Republic Schism
by Spartan-IV
Summary: Jedi Anakin Skywalker and his padawan, Ashoka Tano, are sent to destroy a Separatist droid foundry in the outer-rim. The usual mission turns to one of cloak and dagger tactics when information is revealed that could threaten the integrity of the Republic.
1. En Route to Crato

**Posting this in two locations to maximize awareness. Reviews appreciated, but not necessary.**

Hyperspace, it was more than just a method of faster-than-light space travel. Being in hyperspace evoked a sense of calm into even the most restless soul. Such were thoughts that graced the mind of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker as he gazed out of the viewport on the bridge of his Venator-Class Star Destroyer flagship, _Resolute. _

Anakin took a calming breath to centre his turbulent thoughts; the Jedi Council had tasked him and his Togruta Padawan, Ashoka Tano, with destroying a droid manufacturing plant recently discovered by Clone Intelligence. Taking out the factory would go a long way to evening the odds of the war, particularly since these automated factories were known to build up to a hundred battle droids in a standard galactic day. Despite the obvious benefits success would bring, Anakin had a bad feeling that he just couldn't shake down.

"General?" A voice responded from behind Anakin. The Jedi Knight turned to see the _Resolute's_ commanding officer, Admiral Yularen. He had closely cropped brown hair, blue eyes, and a neatly trimmed mustasche. The officer was fairly young for someone of his rank and was among the growing number of non-clone fleet officers.

"Yes, Admiral?" Anakin asked as he looked at Yularen.

"We're about ten minutes out from the insertion point General. You did say you wanted to be informed."

Anakin took a moment to push the bad feelings he had about the mission aside, now was not the time for such distractions. "Yes, I did. Thank you Admiral."

Yularen gave a slight nod in acknowledgement before spinning on his heels and moving away to ensure that the rest of the battlegroup was so informed. The Jedi General watched him depart before scanning the rest of the bridge. Amid the various officers and troopers working at tactical displays and consoles, there was the unmistakable sight of a certain red and white skinned Torguta. A slight grin formed on his face as he watched Ashoka studying a holo-projection. As he moved closer he could tell she was going over the battle plan he'd laid out for the assault on the droid manufacturing centre, on the planet Crato.

"Let me guess," Anakin said as he stepped to her side causing the young padawan to jump in surprise, "you've already seen flaws in my plan."

"Why Master," Ashoka said as she gazed up at him with innocent looking eyes, "I would never suggest such a thing."

Anakin had to raise an eyebrow at that, "Of course not."

Ashoka's smile seemed to fade as she turned back to the tactical display detailing Anakin's plan. "I am concerned about getting to the surface though Master. Their bound to have weapons emplacements protecting the factory," Ashoka turned back to her master, "I don't think a gunship insertion will be quick enough."

Anakin grinned at his padawan, and Ashoka could've sworn she saw a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, "Don't worry Snips. I've got it all under control. Trust me."

Ashoka looked as though she wanted to argue the point, but whatever she was planning to say was interrupted when Captain Rex entered the bridge. The officer was fully suited in the traditional white armour of the clone trooper, though his armour was blue-stripped in order to display his affiliation with the 501st Legion. The stripes ran down the armour covering his arms, the middle of his chest, his legs, and his currently donned T-visor helmet.

"General," Rex said as he came to attention and snapped off a crisp salute, "All preparations for the mission are complete. The gunships are fully prepped and all troops are on standby."

"Excellent work Rex," Anakin said with a grin, "Let's get underway."

Rex nodded and sidestepped to let Anakin and Ashoka pass before following in their wake. Jedi Skywalker led the way to the closest turbolift and, once Rex and Ashoka were inside, he keyed for a descent to the ventral hangar bay. Ashoka took notice immediately, "Shouldn't we be going up Master?"

Anakin didn't bother to turn around, "Not this time Snips."

Before his apprentice could inquire further the turbolift came to a halt and the doors parted. Anakin quickly disembarked from the lift and moved through the enormous chasm. Ashoka followed her master in awe as she gazed out at a hangar bay she had never seen before. A large blast door stood in the centre of the hangar, it was clearly the loading area of the hangar. It alone was big enough to allow a Republic cruiser to fit inside. Even from this distance, Ashoka could see that a squadron of low altitude assault transport (LAAT) gunships were resting on the loading hatch, with what looked like a total of a company's worth of clone troopers clustered near their respective transports. That was the only loading area alone, the rest of the hangar was devoted to the storing of ships. Everything from gunships to ARC-170 starfighters were placed throughout the hangar, mechanics and pilots alike moved around to ensure that the ships were in compliance with the Grand Army's standard.

Ashoka ceased her gazing as the three drew closer to the gunships. When they were twenty metres away, one of the clone troopers spotted Anakin and snapped to attention as he yelled, "Group! Officer on deck!"

The remaining soldiers immediately stopped talking and came to attention where they were standing. The one who'd shouted out the warning saluted Anakin at his approach. The young General only smiled at the soldier as he passed, "At ease."

The group immediately relaxed, though Anakin did want the soldiers closer to make sure they could all hear his last briefing. Anakin motioned to Rex who was immediately at his side, "Get them in ranks, Captain."

"Yes sir," The Captain said in acknowledgement before turning to the now relaxed troops. "Form up in five ranks!"

The command was acknowledged immediately; one of the soldiers off to the far right stepped forward and announced himself as the right marker. Three others stepped behind him to set the fall-in position for the rest of the company. Not being ones to waste time, the remaining clones fell in until twnety stoodat-ease in each of the five ranks.

Captain Rex moved to the centre of the formation, positioning himself so that he was on the opposite side of the clones, but facing the comapny. The veteran officer came to attention and shouted, his voice carrying to the far ends of the hangar bay, "Company, atten-_tion_!" The clones responded by quickly moving their legs from a previous position of shoulder-width apart to the new position of both legs together; their heels only made one sound as the entire movement was conducted in perfect synchronization. Rex nodded in approval at their actions, "Stand at-_ease_!" The Clone moved back to the normal parade stance. "Stand easy!" The soldiers brought their hands from behind their back to being relaxed at their sides.

Rex turned about face, so that he was 180 degrees from his previous position, and looked straight at Anakin. "Company is awaiting your orders sir."

The Jedi nodded his thanks, moved a bit closer, with Ashoka at his side, and began. "You all know the mission; our target is the droid factory. We won't be able to get a very smooth insertion this time." He paused to sweep his gaze across the company before continuing, "The _Resolute_ and the rest of the fleet will disengage from hyperspace only 20,000 kilometres from the planet. While the rest of the fleet deals with the droid defences, the _Resolute_ will move toward the planet's atmosphere, as soon as we hit the outermost layer the gunships will be dropped." Anakin paused to look at the clones with a small grin, "And I mean _dropped_. We'll go in hard and fast, no engines, just gravity."

One of the troopers gave a small whistle, "Gives a whole new meaning to the word 'dropship.'"

"At twenty kilometres above ground level the engines will be engaged," Anakin continued, "That will be our cruising height to the rendezvous point. You all know what to do from there, any questions?"

The soldiers remained quiet. Anakin wasn't surprised; they'd been thoroughly briefed on the mission plan over the past day. Rex took this as his cue to dismiss the troops. He called them back to attention before giving the command for dismissal. As one, the clones turned to their right and took three paces forward before breaking the formation to head to their assigned gunships.

Anakin watched them leave, part of him knowing that some of them would not be coming back. He turned his attention to his padawan, a nervous expression was etched on her face. "You look worried Ashoka."

The padawan in question tore her gaze away from the gunships to look at her master. There was a feeling of uneasiness that she just couldn't shake down. At first she thought it was because of the way they would be inserting, but now she thought it was something else. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the feeling, she couldn't pin it to anything. It was like a quiet warning bell in the back of her mind. "I don't know Master, maybe I'm just nervous about how we're getting in."

"Don't worry about it Snips, it'll be fine."

Ashoka had to admire his confidence, "If you say so Sky Guy."

Rex led the General to his gunship, which was placed at the front of the squadron. As Anakin boarded the LAAT the pilot closed the gunship's doors, leaving only the small grating panels open. Light was reduced dramatically, but it was still fairly easy to see. The vehicle's occupants reached for handholds as they felt the gunship descend. Ashoka looked up in slight alarm, "We're not dropping already, are we?"

"Not yet Snips. Loading area is descending so the shield above can activate," Anakin said with a grin and just because he couldn't risk teasing her said, "Dropping in a gunship isn't a problem, is it?"

"No," Ashoka spoke a little too quickly, "No problem."

"Glad to hear it," Anakin said with a half smile before turning to Rex, "Tell Admiral Yularen I want an updated E.T.A to Crato."

"On it sir," Rex activated the COM built into his helmet and reset the frequency to match the _Resolute_. "Captain Rex to Admiral Yularen."

"Yularen here," the Admiral's voice came back a few seconds later.

"Sir, General Skywalker requests an updated E.T.A."

There was a slight pause before the Admiral spoke into the COM, "The fleet will drop out of hyperspace in twenty seconds."

"Understood sir, Captain Rex out," Rex cut the channel, set the frequency back to the standard of the 501st and turned his external speakers on in order to communicate with Skywalker. "General, the Admiral reports arrival in twenty seconds."

With nothing else to do, Anakin counted down from twenty in his head while he looked at the others.

_Twenty_. Aside from Captain Rex, seven other clones occupied the LAAT. They stood with their usual collected and calm demeanours; most of them were simply gripping the handholds in anticipation, while a few inspected their weapons one last time.

_Fifteen_. Ashoka grimaced, the quiet warning in the back of her mind was growing steadily larger with every passing second. It was like a steady build up of adrenaline, she had an instinct to flee, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

_Ten_. The warning was magnifying. Ashoka had first attributed the uneasy feeling to nervousness about the insertion. But now, now she wasn't sure what to think. "Ashoka, what's wrong?" Anakin whispered to her, "You seem almost…afraid." Anakin chose the word reluctantly but it was the only thing he could think of to describe his padawan's feelings.

_Five_. Ashoka took a deep breath to try and steady herself, but nothing was working. "Master, something's wro—"

Ashoka's words were cut off as something collided with the Resolute, sending the ship rocking. Anakin immediately activated his wrist link COM, "Admiral Yularen, report!"

Instead of answering on the COM, the Admiral's voice was heard throughout the _Resolute_, "This is Admiral Yularen; we are under attack! Pilots to your ships, all hands man your battle stations."

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**I know some of my readers are going to be wondering why the hell I haven't finished Empire Beneficiary- if they're even reading this. The answer is because I've finally started working on a novel, which I hope will be well received when I'm done with it. As to why I am even bothering to write fanfiction now, it's becuase writing this story has fillen in some gaps to my novel that I might otherwise have never filled.**

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	2. Moving into Attack Range

**My apologies for the delay. I had intended to publish this before I did my weekend military training but I couldn't quite finish it the way I wanted, frankly I'm still not sure if its value right now.**

**Thanks for the reviews by the way, I'll be responding to them at some point.**

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Anakin keyed his transmitter again, "Admiral, status."

"A separatist fleet is holding position above the planet," The Admiral's stunned shout came back almost instantly, "One Lucrehulk class carrier, and several munificent frigates. I don't understand how this is possible; Intelligence reported that the way was clear."

Anakin growled in frustration, his fleet was going into battle and here he was stuck between space and the interior of the Resolute. He couldn't afford to abandon his command for this mission; he'd have to leave this to the Admiral. "Admiral, what is your analysis of the situation? If you can't see a way to slip towards Crato," Anakin said with a voice laced with nothing but frustration, "We'll have to retreat."

There was a few agonizing minutes of COM silence before the Admiral's voice returned, "Retreat won't be necessary this time General Skywalker."

Anakin released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, "Alright then, try and drop us off as quickly you can Admiral."

"I'll do the best I can General."

Admiral Yularen was surprised General Skywalker would give him command of the fleet while he was still on board, whether the Admiral decided to stay and fight, or simply retreat. Though he was also relieved, there were times when the General's reckless tactics had led to the destruction of friendly ships.

Pushing his distracting thoughts out of his mind, the Admiral studied the enemy formation one last time. The lone droid control ship was still in the rear lines, though it was now deploying squadrons of vulture droid starfighters to intercept the fleet. The Munificent frigates were already opening fire with their long range dual heavy turbolasers.

The Admiral's own battlegroup consisted of two other Venator class destroyers in addition to five Acclamator mark II assault ships. The mark IIs had been introduced into the navy only a few weeks into the clone wars, when the need for greater firepower became more apparent. The newer Acclamators featured an additional armament of four dual heavy turbolaser emplacements, making them a steadfast support ship for the Venator class destroyers.

"Any specific orders Admiral?" Commander Paxton asked as he stepped to the admiral's side. He was clearly eager to engage the droid fleet.

"Yes, Commander. Tell Captain Navaro he's to take the _Arrestor_ and _Pinnacle_ along with three of the Acclamators and assault the enemy's right flank." The Admiral paused to bring up a tactical display showing the position of both fleets. Yularen pointed to a grid close to the enemy's left flank, "The majority of the ship's fighters and bombers will reconvene here, leave just one squadron of fighters with every ship."

A flicker of uncertainty passed Paxton's face, Yularen expected a question to come from the young officer. He nodded instead, however, and moved to relay the Admiral's orders to the rest of the fleet. Yularen wasn't surprised that the commander was confused by his order, it left only three squadrons of fighters and two Acclamators to protect the _Resolute_. Then again, Paxton didn't know what Yularen's plan was.

"Captain Navaro has acknowledged the order Admiral," Paxton's voice came from the starboard crew pit, "His group is breaking formation now and all ships are launching their fighters. I respectfully remind the Admiral that two of our V-wing and ARC-170 squadrons are unable to deploy from the ventral hangarbay."

"Noted Commander," Yularen said while he watched through the bridge viewport as Captain Navaro led his group towards the enemy's right flank.

-

It didn't take the Republic attack cruisers long to enter weapon's range. On Navaro's orders, the Arrestor and Pinnacle opened fire with their heavy turbolasers. Blue fire streaked across the blackness of space and impacted into the closest Munificent frigate. The enemy ship's shields only lasted for a handful of seconds before failing, allowing the concentrated fire to tear through the armour plating of the ship. Venting gas was the only visual indication of severe damage as the Venators continued their assault.

Captain Navaro watched from the bridge of the Arrestor as the closest enemy frigate lost its stabilizers. The ship lost the ability to sustain flight and started falling toward the planet below. Navaro turned to his junior officer, "Lieutenant signal the Acclamators to press the attack on the next frigate."

"Right away Captain," the Lieutenant responded.

"Heavy batteries, target the bridge of the next ship. Short bursts of fire." Navaro ordered as he returned his gaze back to the bridge viewport.

-

"Sir, ship six has been destroyed. Ship four is under heavy attack," A pilot droid reported to the battle droid commander from the bridge of the Munificent frigate in the centre of the formation.

The battle droid commander walked around the raised dais in the centre of the frigate's bridge, where tactical consoles scrolled with reports from the other droid ships. The commander was a skeletal designed droid, just like the others of his model. The only difference was a slightly more advanced droid brain and the distinctive yellow markings identifying the droid's rank. "Move us to reinforce ship five and order all fighters to attack the Republic cruisers," The droid commander spoke with only a hint of emotion present in its command.

"All of the fighters sir?" One of the pilots asked in confusion, "Shouldn't we keep some in reserve, just in case the other enemy ships attack?"

"You must be malfunctioning. If those cruisers haven't attacked by now, they must be damaged." The commander took a seat in the chair normally reserved for sentient officers, "This is why pilot droids will never be promoted."

"What about the enemy fighters holding position in grid four. They're bound to attack at some point," The same droid spoke up.

"I'm not worried about it," The commander said as the frigate began turning toward ship four's position, "Why should _you_ be?"

"Because I don't want to die," The pilot spoke in what could have passed as a human muttering.

-

"Sir," A clone shouted from the crewpits of the _Arrestor_ to Captain Navaro, "Enemy frigate and droid starfighter squadrons are heading to our position."

"Recall the fighters back to the rear." Navaro said while he watched the Acclamators continue firing.

The droid frigates had moved to target Navaro's battlegroup and they had already opened fire with their heavy turbolasers and anti-starfighter laser batteries. Despite the strength of the bombardment, the Venator and Acclamator warships were able to stand their ground. Red and blue laser fire flashed against the hulls of both combatants, wearing down shield strength and amour plating alike.

"Move us alongside the Acclamators and signal the _Pinnacle_ to do the same," Captain Navaro ordered after a brief glance at a tactical display.

-

"Admiral," Praxton spoke in excitement, "The centre frigate is breaking formation!"

Yularen looked toward the bridge viewport, and away from a recent report from the Arrestor, to see that the commander was correct. The frigate was moving to the right flank to combat Navaro's battlegroup. For the first time since the attack began a tight smile touched the Admiral's face. "Bring our engines online; divert energy from our reserve power supply. We're heading right through the centre."

The Resolute shot forward with the sudden transfer of power, with the two support Acclamators right beside them. Yularen's gaze moved toward the distant outline of the Arrestor. The exchanges of red and blue laser fire reached a climax. Enemy starfighters were performing strafing runs on the Republic cruisers, there were over a hundred of them, even a Venator couldn't withstand that kind of assault for long.

"Admiral Yularen to Vibro Six Two," The Admiral said as he contacted the Arc-170 fighter squadron escorting the _Resolute_.

"Six Two hears you Admiral."

"Enemy starfighters are overwhelming the _Arrestor_. Intercept and destroy."

"With pleasure sir. Six Two out," The squadron leader said before redirecting the channel back to the his squadron's frequency, "Vibro Squadron follow me. We're giving the _Arrestor_ some support."

The twelve other pilots in the squad sent back their acknowledgements, their starfighters now in full throttle as they followed six-two to the battle raging ahead. It only took a minute for the squadron to reach Captain Navaro's group, though a small group of droid fighters were already moving to engage.

Six Two quickly keyed his transmitter, "Prepare to move to—,"

"Sir, I'm reading multiple missile locks!" Vibro Six Four called, effectively cutting off Six Two.

"Squad random flights, evasive manoeuvres!" Six-Two barked into the COM, even as he forced his ship into a roll.

Vibro squadron wordlessly acknowledged the command by instantly breaking the crescent formation. ARC-170 fighters scattered in all directions, their engines pushed to the maximum in order to perform sharp dives and rolls. Several missile shot past the place where Vibro squadron had been a moment before. While most of the explosives failed to track the nimble squadron, two were able to trail after one 170 fighter.

"Six Three, you've got two missiles on your tail! Go evasive!"

"I can't shake them," Six Three's frantic shout answered back, "My rear gunner is on it."

As if on cue, dual laser blasts appeared from the stern of the fighter, striking the missiles and leaving them nothing more than pieces of debris. By this time Six Two had levelled his starfighter off from the starboard roll he'd used to break formation and was on course for one of the closest droid frigate. "Six four and Six five form up on my wing. Everyone else head at best speed to the _Arrestor_." Pilot Six Two called as he opened a COM channel.

A chorus of acknowledgements came from Vibro Squadron before the two fighters linked up with their squad leader. As a single unit, the three fighters darted toward the Munificent frigate directly in front of them. "Alright listen up," Six Two said, "Four your target will be the fire control system. Five you're on the reactor and I've got the bridge."

"Roger Six Two, I'm already on my way." Six Four called as he started breaking formation.

"Droid frigate, not for long," Six Five said with a grin as he dived to the centre of the warship.

-

"Uh, sir," A droid pilot called from his console on ship five.

"What is it now?" The Commander asked with what passed for exasperation in a droid.

"Three fighters are on an intercept course."

The droid commander looked at the pilot for a handful of seconds before saying, "For a second I thought you were about to say something important."

"But—"

"Three fighters can't do anything to a frigate," The commander said, effectively ending any argument.

-

The very idea that three fighters could damage a heavily shielded warship was a statement beyond ludicrous. These thoughts entered Six Two's mind as he manoeuvred his starfighter to avoid incoming laser fire coming from the droid frigate's forward defence guns. But as the bridge came within weapons range, a half grin etched its way onto the squad leader's face. After all, the ARC-170 was also a bomber.

Proton torpedo blasts from Sixes Two, Four, and Five were all it took to permanently disable Munificent ship five and secure the right flank.

-

It took two minutes for the Resolute to move into the gap now exposed in the centre of the enemy's formation. The approach was quick enough that the droids didn't have enough time to form a counter attack. Yularen moved to the bridge viewport and began issuing orders, "Port and Starboard batteries: open fire on your respective targets. Lock on to the bridge. Heavy batteries: fire on that droid control ship." The Admiral paused before signaling the Acclamators, "Support ships, concentrate your fire on the starboard frigate."

A flurry of acknowledgements arose from the bridge officers in the crewpits as they signaled the _Resolute_'s gunners to open fire. The _Resolute_'s starboard batteries commenced firing, sending a wave of blue lasers impacting into the hull of the frigate. The two Acclamators supporting the flagship fired all their weapons on the starboard frigate as soon as they were in range. Discharging turbolasers tore through the opposition, creating a swath of destruction as both Republic and Separatist ships continued assaulting one another's flanks.

A launch of proton torpedoes from the two Acclamators appeared as bright red flares against the stark contrast of space. The cluster of munitions shredded through the centre of the targeted frigate, leaving it to split in half in the span of a millisecond as the reactor overloaded. A blue shockwave erupted from the centre of the impact, splashing against the shields of the Acclamators before finally dissipating.

"Give our starfighters in sector four the green light," Admiral Yularen ordered while he continued to glance at consoles and tactical maps diaplaying the remaining separatist ships. "Their priority target is the Munificent frigate to our left."

"Message away sir," Commander Praxton reported after a brief pause.

"Accelerate to attack speed, and bring all firepower down on that Federation Control Ship."

The _Resolute_'s ion engines glowed a fierce blue as the ship moved back to full speed, its course taking it on a direct course for the control ship.

Twenty minutes later, it was all over.


	3. Insurgents Intiated

**Apologies for the delay, and the slight shortness.**

**Thanks for the reviews by the way. Much obliged.**

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Anakin kept curling and uncurling his cybernetic limb to try and push the feeling of helplessness from his mind. His flagship was engaging a separatist fleet and here he was in a gunship, trapped between access to the Resolute and the blackness of space.

"General Skywalker," A voice resounded from the confines of the gunship.

Snapping out of his reverie, Anakin slapped his wrist-COM, "This is Skywalker, report."

"Enemy forces have been neutralized General," Admiral Yularen said, "Your drop-off is in five."

A half-grin stretched across the Jedi's face, "Roger that Admiral. Any casualties?"

"Minimal damage to two of the Acclamators and three destroyed fighter squadrons."

A momentary cringe shot through Anakin at the mention of three lost squadrons, but from the Admiral's report he knew it could have been far worse. "Excellent work Admiral. Make sure all bomber squadrons are on standby and keep the _Resolute_ in orbit after the drop-off."

"May I ask why," Yularen inquired after a brief hesitation.

"I need the flagship nearby for quick extraction," Anakin said a little too quickly.

"Understood," If the Admiral didn't believe the veteran Jedi's explanation he didn't let it slip into his voice, "Yularen out."

Anakin placed his COM back on standby and figured that he had at least three more minutes before the Resolute entered Crato's atmosphere. He took one last look around the interior of LAAT to find his padawan fixing him with a look of confusion. He knew that she wanted an explanation for his order to the Admiral but he didn't know if he could explain it to her. He could barley explain it to himself.

Ashoka must have sensed his desire to not tell her, she turned her gaze back to the sliding door directly in front of her, but not before Anakin caught a glimpse of disappointment echoing in her eyes. The General pushed back his feelings of regret, he'd have to explain it to her at some point, but until then he planned on completing the mission. Albeit, with a slight change of plans.

It wasn't long before the grating panels for the gunship's doors slid shut. Dark red lights snapped on as the pilot started counting down the remaining ten seconds before drop-off. When the pilot reached zero, the hangar supporting the gunships slid open, ejecting all twenty of the LAATs into Crato's atmosphere. Anakin felt as though his stomach had jumped up to his throat as the gunship plummeted down toward the separatist world below.

"Their anti-aircraft guns are coming online!" One of the pilot's voice could be heard from Anakin's wrist-COM as the General had set it to monitor friendly radio traffic.

"We'll be close to the landing zone soon enough pilot," Anakin said in an attempt sooth any worried clones.

The enemy batteries opened fire not too long after the elder Jedi's statement. Separatist anti-aircraft emplacements fired quick bursts of blaster flak, a type of ammunition that relied on a high power source to propel it far enough into the air to adequately damage enemy starfighters. Such an energy source, however, was highly unstable. It could only last for a handful of seconds before the energy's core pressure reached critical levels, resulting in an implosion. As the gunship began to violently rock from side to side due to near misses, Anakin wasn't sure which was worse, the imploding energy cores, or the projectiles themselves.

Trying to shake the sense of free-fall from his mind, Anakin chanced a glance at Captain Rex and his padawan. To a normal observer it was impossible to see how the clone captain was faring. Rex's expression, after all, was hidden behind his helmet. Stretching out with the force, however, allowed the Jedi Knight to sense the captain's worry. Anakin wasn't surprised at that, Captain Rex had voiced his opinion on the gunship insertion many times before. What interested the Jedi General was that beneath the Captain's worry lied a firm believe and confidence in a certain Jedi's leadership. Use of the Force wasn't necessary in Ashoka's case, his padawan wore a look of determination that left no room for failure.

Another cluster of munitions imploded next to their gunship, the force of the impact tested the strength of the LAAT's occupants to hold on to their handholds as the gunship suffered from several close misses. Anakin growled at another hit and keyed his wrist-COM, "Pilot, what's our distance to ground!"

"Forty seconds to engine activation, General."

Anakin sent an acknowledgement signal to the pilot before reverting back to monitor COM traffic. Amidst the flurry of cautionary warnings between pilots was a shout that instantly caught the attention of the General.

"This is gunship six, we're taking heavy damage! Armour plating is at thirty percent and dropping!"

Anakin connected a channel to the pilot in a matter of seconds, "Gunship six this is General Skywalker, land your ship now, I say again: land your ship now!"

"I can't sir; the port engine has been hit!"

The Jedi Knight cringed as the sound of explosions echoed onto his end of the transmission. As screams of terror began echoing on the COM, it was clear to the general that the LAAT was on a collision course. With a heavy heart, the Jedi forcibly squelched their COM channel, leaving their cries to go unheard as their gunship plummeted to the ground.

A surge of rage sprang to Anakin's mind at the loss of a gunship; the anger allowed him to get a new perspective on the situation and it was one he accepted without hesitation. The General keyed his wrist-COM, "General Skywalker to all ships, ground your gunships. Say again, ground your gunships. All troops deploy and rendezvous at grid 2-4-1 5-7-9."

As the pilots confirmed acknowledgement of the command, Anakin placed his wrist-COM back to standby and ordered the pilot to open the gunship's hatches. The panel gratings were the first things to slide open. Their opening allowed a small amount of light to filter into the gunship. As the doors themselves moved apart, a flooding of natural light greeted Anakin's retina. It was bright enough that he was forced to squint until his eyes could adapt.

When the harshness of the light subsided, Anakin surveyed his surroundings in a handful of seconds. Enemy flak cannons could still be seen firing, their implosions appearing as bright orange streaks in the sky. A few of those implosions erupted close to a nearby gunship, but it was able to hold its course as it rapidly descended to the planet below.

With his gunship fifteen metres above ground level, Anakin felt that the LAAT was moving too slow for his liking and so he jumped out the port hatch. The height would have severely injured a normal person, but Anakin could hardly be classified in such a manner. Enveloping himself in a cocoon of Force energy allowed the Jedi Knight to survive the impact unscathed. The General moved to take off toward the rendezvous point he had already set up for everyone but a burst COM transmission froze him in his tracks.

"This…….gunship six….five survivors a—……wounded. Our loc….2-2-4…... p—…advise."

Anakin tried to match the frequency as he sent back a reply, "Gunship six, this is General Skywalker. Move to grid 2-4-1 5-7-9, say again grid 2-4-1 5-7-9."

"Gen—……trans—.....corrupted. We……moving to…….wait a minute!"

The rest of the clone's transmission was filled with frantic bursts of blaster fire and cries of pain. The Jedi General waited while the gunship he had previously occupied landed on the grassy plains. Ashoka and Captain Rex were quick to move out of the now grounded aircraft, along with a squad of clone troopers. His padawan had a smirk on her face as she approached him, "I know I call you Sky Guy Master, but there's no need to jump out of a gunship when it's about to land."

Anakin ignored her jab and tried to figure out where gunship six could've crash landed. Typical Jedi commanders would've put such a rescue mission as a low priority, but Jedi Skywalker had proven time and again that he was no ordinary Jedi. Not to meention that the wayward General could sense an importance in the task itself.

"Master?" Ashoka asked as she could sense that his attention was divided, "Is there something wrong?'

"I don't know Snips," Anakin said with a voice that sounded distant even to his own ears, "I don't know."

"General," Captain Rex spoke up from Ashoka's side, "We should get moving sir."

"I agree Captain," Anakin said as he made his decision, "Ashoka, I'm putting you in command of this mission until I return. Link up with the others and then make your way to the target. I want contact reports every step of the way Padawan."

Ashoka frowned as her Master started in the opposite direction of the rendezvous grid he himself had established. "Where are you going Master?"

A smile stretched across Anakin's face. Ashoka sounded just like he did when he and Obi-Wan had been tracking down the bounty hunter, Zam Wessel, through the lower levels of Coruscant. Briefly, Anakin wondered if his former master had the same feeling that made him say what he did, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. "I need to check on something, something very important." The reluctant master paused to look back at the group of clones close to Captain Rex. "You two," Anakin called as he pointed to two of the troopers, "Come with me."

The appointed two snapped to attention long enough to say 'yes sir' in unison before sprinting to join the departing Jedi General. Anakin continued his fast walk, with the two clones falling step to either side of him. The Jedi stretched out with the Force as he walked, probing the areas for any inconsistencies that might indicate an ambush. Even though droid couldn't be picked up by such a technique, indigenous life could. Anakin withdrew his sense when he concluded that nothing was out of the ordinary, something that sent a ripple of disappointment through his mind. Part of him couldn't help but feel that he was chasing down something he wouldn't be able to find. _And yet_, Anakin thought, _I know there's something I need to find_. With a shake of his head, Anakin pushed aside his feelings. Right now his first priority was to find gunship six. A quick survey of his surroundings made him realize that it wasn't going to be very easy.

Right now the young Jedi and his party of two were trudging through wide open plains dominated by long blades of lush green grass. Those plains ended about two hundred metres ahead, where spots of forests started to appear. From what Anakin had seen, in the short time he had been able to look outside, the trees in the forest were spaced far enough apart that he didn't think mobility restriction would be an issue. _All in all_, the General thought as he quickened his pace, _the last place anyone would think to look for a droid factory_.


	4. Ensnared

**My apologies for the wait.**

**Thanks to all the readers, double thanks to those that reviewed. After all, inspiration is always helpful in churning out chapters.**

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Taking point in a formation meant paying extremely close attention to one's surroundings. The person on point was often the only thing that determined whether or not a squad survived a trip through enemy territory. But despite the seriousness attributed to her current position in the single-file column of clone troopers, Ashoka's mind wasn't fully committed to the task at hand. The young apprentice couldn't help but wonder why her master had felt the need to take off like he had.

Gradually, Ashoka became aware that someone was calling her name. She shook away the hazy feeling in her mind long enough to see hat Captain Rex was walking beside her. "With respect Commander," The Captain said, his words coming through the external speakers of his helmet, "Maybe you should let me take point."

Ashoka quickly realized that she couldn't dwell on her master's decision, not if she wanted to complete the mission. The young Togruta looked at Rex, "That won't be necessary Captain."

"Good to hear Commander," The veteran officer said, the Togruta could picture a small grin forming from behind his camouflaged helmet. He nodded to her before moving to his original position behind the padawan.

With a lot of effort, Ashoka pushed her grim thoughts away and put her entire focus into completing the mission. Currently, her group was moving through a large portion of forest. Rex had ordered the others to put a light amount of camouflage paint over their armour. Now their protective attire was dotted with streaks of brown, green, and black.

The whole column had slowed down from a brisk jog to a slow walk. With the amount of twigs and fallen branches covering the surface, the advancing soldiers had been forced to reduce their speed as they got closer to the objective. The cautious soldiers were now moving by slowly rolling their feet from the heel to the toe, an effect dubbed by the clones as 'ghost walking'

"Rear to lead," A clone's voice rattled through on Ashoka's wrist-COM, "Enemy contact sighted, nine o'clock my position."

Ashoka turned herself ninety degrees to her left and, after a fashion, saw that the rear guard was correct. Through the vegetation and towering trees, Ashoka caught a glimpse of the familiar skeletal design of a battle droid moving in a designated patrol route. "Lead to rear, contact confirmed," Ashoka whispered into her wrist-COM.

"What do you want to do Commander?" Rex asked, his eyes lingering toward the patrolling droid.

Ashoka was tempted to give the order to neutralize the droid, but she knew that her master wouldn't take the situation at face value. Instead of engaging the droids, she could order the others to spread out and map out enemy patrols. At the very least Ashoka would get an idea of how large the compound was, at best, she could expose a weakness in the droid's lines.

Decision made, she re-activated her wrist-COM and keyed the rest of the team leaders, "This is Zero, enemy contacts have been sighted. All squads fan out for recon duty."

"Zero this is One-One, roger that."

"Zero, One-Two, acknowledged."

"Zero, One-Three reporting, order copied and understood."

Ashoka listened as all three of the platoon leaders confirmed acknowledgement of the order. As soon as the last platoon leader checked in, the young apprentice let the others know that the message had been received by everyone by saying, "Zero out." The padawan closed the COM channel and turned to face her squad, "We're splitting up." "Rex and you two," Ashoka announced as she started pointing to the three nearest clones, "You're with me. The rest of you move out and probe the enemy lines."

Silent head nods were her only sign that the clones had heard the order as they split up into their designated groups to follow-through on the command.

Three pairs of feet moved quickly over the forest floor, the two pairs in the rear were having trouble keeping up with the one in the lead but they didn't make any sound of protest as they continued pressing forward. The man on point held up the palm of his right hand, signalling a halt.

"Somehing wrong sir?" One of the clone troopers asked. The party was on the edge of a clearing, in the distance they could see the outline of a crashed gunship. None of the troopers had been able to see anything to indicate that enemy activity was in the area. Jedi, however, had a way with such things.

"I'm not sure," Anakin said distantly, his eyes probing the terrain. The Jedi reached out with the Force, trying to pick up on any inconsistencies. Not being able to find any, he decided to focus on the task at hand, though he knew it would be unwise to ignore the feeling.

"I want you two to stay here." Anakin said as he turned back to the two soldiers, "Keep your eyes sharp."

"We always do sir."

With a final nod to the two troopers, Anakin sprinted out into the clearing on a course taking him directly to the crashed gunship. As he moved closer, Anakin could see the scattered corpses of clone troopers, they looked as though they had been thrown clear of the gunship upon impact. The Jedi General was only about a hundred metres from the crash site when he felt a ripple in the Force. Trusting the warning whole heartedly, Anakin quickly rolled to the left. A blaster bolt left a black scorch mark into the grass, in the very area the Jedi had occupied scant seconds before.

The General didn't have time to do anything more than unclip his lightsaber from his belt before another series of bolts started to rain down on him. Skywalker rolled and dove to avoid enemy fire, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult.

The crashed gunship offered the promise of cover, it was one Anakin hoped could be kept as he moved toward the LAAT. Using the Force to empower his limbs allowed the Jedi to cover the now eighty metre distance in ten seconds. Anakin dove into the aircrafts troop bay when he was close enough, only to make eye contact with a blaster barrel.

Just as quickly as the blaster was pointed at Anakin, however, it was lowered. The young Jedi Knight looked around to see that the gunship was home to a squad of clone troopers. They all relaxed their guard when they identified the newcomer as a friendly. "Sorry about that General," The squad's sergeant said as he re-holstered his blaster pistol, "We've been pinned down for a good twenty minutes. We're all on edge."

"Why haven't you tried to link up with the rest of the strike force?" Anakin asked as he reclipped his weapon to his belt. He found it hard to believe that the clones would willingly sit in one place for so long.

"We tried sir, even after we saw two troopers injured from the crash get shot. The Lieutenant wanted to move out in two man teams and sprint to the forest." The sergeant paused as he let out a regretful sigh, "They….didn't make it. Every time we try to make a break for it, someone gets hit."

Anakin keyed his wrist-com as a plan started to form in his mind, "Escort, did you get a fix on the point of origin for those shots?"

"Roger General," One of the clones who had accompanied Anakin to the crash site said, "Origin is one hundred metres away, two o'clock your position."

"Excellent, get a firing point on that location but hold your fire until my signal."

"Transmission confirmed sir, we're moving out."

Anakin closed the COM channel and turned back to the squad's sergeant, "We're getting out of here. As soon as I step out, take your team to the forest as fast as possible. Link up with the assault force from there; we'll be right behind you."

"Understood sir."

Several tense seconds passed before Anakin's wrist-com crackled to life, "General, we're in position," the escort duo reported.

"As soon as I give the go-ahead, blast them."

"Copy that sir."

"Sergeant," Anakin said, his blue lightsaber activating with a snap-hiss, "Move it out!"

Before the clone squad could even take a step, Anakin was already out of the downed gunship and moving toward the enemy's location. Blaster fire was already discharging at the Jedi Knight, red bolts flashed against the General's blue blade, sending the would-be fatal shots back in the direction of their senders.

Anakin positioned himself to protect the retreating clone squad even while enemy fire continued to rain down on him. Despite his best efforts, a couple of precise shots slipped past his defences and shredded through the armour of two unlucky clones. The two troopers dropped with screams of pain, forcing the rest of their squad to increase their pace if they wanted to avoid the fate of their two comrades. Amidst the flurry of lightsaber movement, the defending Jedi was able to activate his wrist-com, "Escort, fire at will!"

Blaster fire resounded from the forest at the General's command, sending blue bolts toward the hidden adversaries. The sudden attack from their flanks must've caught the enemy snipers off guard, for the blaster fire that had previously been targeting Anakin came to a sudden stop. With the enemy temporarily distracted, the Jedi Knight took to the offensive. He sprinted to where the sniper fire had originated from, moving in zigzags to throw off the enemy's aim, should they resume firing. The landscape whipped past Anakin in a blur as the Force empowered his limbs once more.

In the span of a few seconds, Anakin could see the two clone troopers firing up into the trees. Their DC-15s were discharging in short, controlled bursts, sending blue bolts up at their targets while the clones moved to find better cover. The Jedi was forced to cut his observations short, when a disturbance in the Force warned him of a threat. The General rolled to the left, just as a red bolt impacted into his previous position.

Anakin looked to where the shot had originated from to see a tall droid standing at the base of a tree. The mechanical combatant looked like a cross-over between a regular battle droid and a super battle droid. Its overall appearance was similar to that of a standard battle droid except that this model featured extra armour plating, larger photoreceptors, and what looked like a jet-pack on its back.

The droid holstered its long-range blaster rifle and exchanged it for a vibro-blade that was stored on its left leg. The enemy combatant advanced on Anakin, forcing the Jedi to focus as he met the droid head-on. The General was surprised when his lightsaber failed to cut the weapon in half, it was something he regretted when the droid took advantage of its opponent's surprise by swiping its weapon in a quick sideways arc. Anakin moved to avoid the strike at the last second, though as felt the blade slice through a portion of his forearm, he knew he hadn't been fast enough.

A burst of rage erupted within the Jedi at the mere thought of being injured, if only slightly, by a droid. The feeling evoked a sense of power within the General and it was on he quickly tapped into as he swiped the enemy's blade aside and struck at the droid's carapace. Anakin almost recoiled in surprise when his lightsaber was repelled by the droid's armour plating.

The Jedi made another strike, this time at the droid's head, only to be faced with the same result. Anakin's opponent moved in for another melee engagement, but the Jedi unleashed a wave of Force energy he'd harnessed during the few seconds it took for the mechanical combatant to strike again. The strength of the Force push sent the droid hurtling into the tree directly behind it. The tree almost collapsed under the sheer force of the impact, making it more than enough to put an end to Anakin's attacker.

The two troopers emerged from the trees not long after, one looked as though it had been injured during the short fire-fight, if the carbon scoring on his shoulder were any indication. Both clones came to a halt less than five metres from Anakin, "General, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Anakin said as he gazed back down at the now destroyed droid.

One of the clones followed his gaze, "Tough models these ones. We neutralized another back in the forest sir; the Seps have really gone all-out this time."

Anakin, however, was barley listening to the clone. Admiral Yularen's statement from the battle was echoing in his mind, _"I don't understand how this is possible! Clone Intelligence reported that the way was clear."_

"They knew we were coming," Anakin whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

"Sir?" The trooper with the injured shoulder queried.

Not even bothering to answer the clone, Anakin snapped on his wrist-COM, "Ashoka, this is Skywalker come in." Static was his only reply, "Rex, do you copy?"

When static was his only answer again, Anakin wheeled around to face the two troopers, "See if you can make contact with them."

"Yes sir," The closest one replied as he activated his own COM, "Commander Ashoka, are you receiving sir?" With no reply, the trooper tried again, "Captain Rex, do you read sir?" The trooper shut off his COM channel and reactivated his helmet's external speakers, "It's no use General, their transmissions must be jammed."

Not needing to hear anymore, Anakin motioned for the two troopers to follow him as he sprinted back to Ashoka and the others. It was obvious to him now that this had been a separatist trap. Anakin only hoped he could get to Ashoka and the others before they got swept up in it.


	5. Desperate Strike

**Thanks to everyone for continuing to read this, and for the reviews too of course, words of encouragement and critcism are always helpful.**

**Now I've decided to double the usual chatper length from now on, so updates may not come as often as they used to.**

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"This is it, their weakest point is here." Ashoka spoke while she looked at Captain Rex and the two other troopers with her. After ten minutes of probing the enemy's lines, one of the clone teams had reported on a break in the droid's formation. That location was where Ashoka and her team were currently residing. The padawan's gaze briefly turned away from the break in the droid lines as she did another survey of the enemy position.

The Separatist factory was a massive complex less than fifty metres away from the Republic forces. The woodland surrounding the building had been cleared away to create a fifty metre long clearing, ensuring that any attacks would quickly be spotted. The clearing looked as though it had been done haphazardly, testifying to a quick defense set-up. This theory held even more merit with the factory's only outer defences consisting of patrolling squads of both the standard and super battle droids. The droids moved around the forest perimeter, protecting the factory's only entrance, that being a large blast door.

Ashoka turned her gaze back to her squad and started running through different attack scenarios. The Togruta reasoned that if the clones were to break through the gap in enemy lines, the assault force would be able to storm the factory's one and only entrance at a forty-five degree angle. She decided that organizing the clones into a loose pyramid formation would allow them to quickly overwhelm the droid defenders.

Pryamid formations were rarely seen in today's warfare, they had been developed at a time when the only weapon available in battle had been the blade. The formation featured one person at the front, with another being added to every line there-after. Depending on the size of the force, the formation could accommodate a rear line as big as a hundred. It was designed to batter at the weakest point in an enemy line, destroy unit cohesion, and facilitate the feeling of panic that would cause the enemy to rout.

"I'm not sure about this Commander," Captain Rex spoke from her side, his gaze sweeping over the "break" in the droid lines. "Clankers may not be the sharpest vibro-blades in the Separatist arsenal but it's not like them to leave a gap in their lines. They may have a thin amount of patrols in one area, but I've never seen them leave such an obvious hole." Rex paused as he turned back to the padawan, "This must be a trap."

"Perhaps Captain," Ashoka said with a thin smile, "But traps work both ways." The Commander ignored what she imagined to be a disapproving look from Rex as she continued, "If we organize everyone into a pyramid formation, the troops can actively break lines to surround any potential ambush, then reform to storm the objective."

"I'm still not sure about this Commander," Rex said after a long pause, "But I'll always have your back."

Ashoka smiled at Rex, "Well what are we waiting for? Recall the platoons and have them form up here."

"Right away Commander," Rex said before he relayed the Commander's orders to the platoons still on recon duty.

In the time it took eight minutes to pass, the assault force was grouped up in the Commander's chosen pyramid formation, their carbines and rifles at the ready as they waited for the order to go ahead. That order came in the form of an igniting green lightsaber as the young Togruta led the way forward. The clones emerged from the forest so quickly that the droids didn't have time to do anything more than flinch in surprise before the Republic troops opened fire. Blue bolts erupted near the factory, impacting into droid armour plating and leaving the automatons as nothing more than burning scraps.

The clones continued to push forward, by the time the droids started to actively engage their targets, the camouflaged Republic soldiers had reduced the enemy's strength by ten percent. Even as the droid defenders rallied, the clones continued to take them down with short bursts of fire from their DC model blasters.

Battle droid unit Three-Five-Two glanced to the side in time to witness the destruction of a nearby droid, its chassis the victim of multiple blaster hits. Three-Five-Two quickly turned away from the scene and fired back at the enemy combatants, while it moved toward the commander, "Uh…sir, we're losing a lot of troops. Shouldn't we retreat?"

The yellow pauldron marked droid responded as it continued firing, "Negative, we're preparing an ambus—," The rest of the droid's speech was cut off when a precise shot impacted into its head.

"What in the world is an ambus?" Three-Five-Two asked. Once no response was forthcoming, the droid risked a glance at the commander, only to see the destroyed remains of the factory's defence officer. "That is not good," Three-Five-Two stated, his photoreceptors lingering on the scene.

Ashoka moved her lightsaber in wide arcs, frantically parrying enemy blaster fire. Red bolts were swarming the right flank of the clone formation. The padawan, with Captain Rex in tow, had moved back to the centre of the formation as soon as they had broken through enemy lines. The young Togruta was now several metres away from the main body, her green blade was in a whirlwind of motion, casting the illusion that it was everywhere at once. The amount of energy bolts had increased to the point where Ashoka was no longer concentrating on sending ammunition back to their senders. She was, instead, deflecting them in all directions, ensuring that no enemy fire slipped past her defences.

"Sir," Captain Rex shouted to be heard above the sounds of discharging blasters and wounded screams, "We can't hold out for much longer!"

"I've got it under control Rex," Ashoka said, her teeth gritted in concentration as she continued to parry enemy fire.

"With respect commander, fighting in this formation is cutting our strength in half. We may have to retreat."

A small grin formed on the padawan's face as she realized that Rex was partly correct. Up until now the Togruta had been unwilling to actively break the pyramid formation, but now it was clear that if she didn't give the order the droids would overwhelm them. Still deflecting blaster fire, Ashoka spoke to Rex, "Split our forces into thirds. Get two lines to break away and encompass the droids."

Understood sir," Rex replied, his COM already linked up to the other platoon leaders to relay the order.

Two lieutenants with troops in the rear were the first to acknowledge the order. Their platoons instantly broke formation and sprinted to form a new offensive line. The move was executed so precisely that it looked as if two lines of the previously grouped pyramid formation extended outward, then instantly swung 180 degrees to assault the droid flanks.

Not two seconds after the line was reformed a series of high powered blaster shots sounded from behind Ashoka. Amidst the reverberation of the discharging bolts were the sounds of painful cries, barley audible over the continuing sound of rampantly firing blasters. Risking a glance behind her, Ashoka's eyes widened at the sight of enemy fire assaulting their rear flank. Unlike the steady stream of fire issued from most droids, however, these were single, precise shots; and none of them missed.

Realising she now had to protect two fronts, Ashoka quickly moved to the rear to fight the more immediate threat. After the initial barrage, clone troopers quickly organized themselves into two lines. While such a tactic gave them a better chance of dealing with the new threat, it severely weakened the main battle line; something that did not go unnoticed by the droids. The mechanical automatons made a last desperate strike against the clone's fractured centre line, fully intent on crushing their attackers.

Only years of gruelling training gave the clones the discipline to stand fast and continue fighting. With the droids attempting to advance, the clones were starting to realize just how exposed they really were in the woodland clearing. Rolls, dives, and constant movement were all the evasive action the Republic soldiers could perform. Against the remaining fifty Separatist defenders, some were starting to think that it might not be enough.

Captain Rex made sure his line was maintaining their unit cohesion from his position at the heart of the battle. "Controlled bursts trooper," Rex shouted to a soldier firing his DC-15 on full auto.

"Roger that sir," The soldier replied after rolling to avoid a burst of enemy blaster fire.

With the droids only forty metres away, Rex holstered one of his blaster pistols and tore a thermal detonator from his belt. A quick flick of the device's switch was all it took to set the five second timer, "Therm out!" The veteran officer shouted the precautionary as he tossed the spherical explosive into the droid's midst.

The rest of Rex's men followed his lead, throwing what grenades they possessed into the fray. A few seconds later, a chain reaction of detonations erupted from the droid ranks. The resulting explosions left the droid ranks in temporary disarray, something that Captain Rex took advantage of as he ordered an advance with both pistols discharging once more. His troops took up the call with an echoing battle cry, "In the name of the Republic, forward!"

The clones pressed forward with renewed vigour, blasters firing in sweeping arcs as they pressed the attack. Since the factory's mechanical defenders had made a considerable advance, the Republic soldiers stationed on the left and right flanks were able to fully encompass the remaining Separatist garrison. Unable to retreat, the droids were forced to stand their ground in a last ditch attempt to turn the tide of battle back in their favour. With clones steadily moving forward from every direction, the droids were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed.

Captain Rex holstered his dual blaster pistols and took a moment to catch his breath. When he took a look back to see how Commander Ashoka was doing, however, that all changed. The sight of his brethren rapidly falling from precise blaster shots was enough to fix a cold stare onto the veteran officer's face. Despite the young padawan's efforts, the veteran officer knew full well that the Commander wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.

"One and two platoon, follow me," Captain Rex said as he flipped on his COM, "Three platoon secure the entrance to the objective. I don't want Sep reinforcements breaking through."

Clone officers briskly acknowledged the command as Captain Rex led one and two platoon to Padawan Ashoka's position. The squad who had stayed behind to assist the Commander were dangerously thin in number. More and more shots rained down on the clone's positions. While Ashoka furiously tried to deflect the decisively accurate shots, enough were slipping past her swiftly moving lightsaber. Those struck by the high velocity energy shots cried out as they reeled backwards. The red bolts melted the clone's protective armour, leaving cauterized flesh in its wake. A few of their squadmates tried to mend their comrade's grievous wounds..

"Two Platoon, break off and strike from the right," Captain Rex ordered with a quick switch of COM frequencies.

"Acknowledged sir, we're moving out." The platoon's lieutenant responded.

Rex switched his COM frequency back to monitor friendly chatter as he led his platoon to reinforce Ashoka's weakened line. One Platoon covered the fifty metre distance in a short minute, the troopers immediately filled in gaps in the Commander's defence line.

One Platoon quickly adopted a strategy of strike and evade; one that they encouraged those under Ashoka's command to follow. Clones fired their weapons in the general origin of enemy bolts, then quickly rolled, or dove, to avoid any possible retaliation.

"Thought you could use some help Commander," Rex said as he stepped to the padawan's side.

Ashoka was too focused on deflecting enemy blaster bolts to respond with anything more than a nod. More red bolts started targeting the Jedi Commander, pushing Ashoka's abilities to the limit.

"Target resistance increasing to threat level blue," Assassin squad leader RP 001 stated, the droid's electronic voice filtering through the team's encrypted COM. "Units RP 003 and RP 005 switch to assault mode, protocol two-two-four."

"Order confirmed," The designated units responded, exchanging their high-powered rifles for the E-5 Carbines attached to their mechanical limbs. Internal chronometers built into the droids ensured that Units Three and Five activated their jet-packs simultaneously. Normally, such an action would alert enemy troops, but the constant sound of discharging weapons below was more than enough to mask the noise generated by the jet-packs.

Both assassin units landed behind the centre Republic line. A few vigilant clones had noticed their forms rocket into the sky and were in the process of targeting the droids when the Separatist combatants opened fire. Unit Five squeezed off a continuous rate of fire from his carbine. The troopers who had noticed the droids' landing were cut down by the assassin's accuracy.

Unit Three locked is photoreceptors on the source of its squad's frustration, a Jedi positioned in the middle of the Republic's line. Red bolts that would've shredded through clones were, instead, blocked by the swift parries of a green blade. Moving as quickly as its artificial intelligence and servomotors would allow, Units Three raised its carbine at its target and fired.

Captain Rex paused after firing a burst of bolts from his pistols, his helmet's enhanced audio receptors registered the sound of foreign blaster shots. The veteran officer had been in enough engagements to know the sound of a droid E-5 carbine when he heard it. Quickly turning towards the source of the noise, Rex felt a stab of fear at the thought of Three Platoon being overwhelmed by droid reinforcements. That feeling was instantly dispelled when the veteran saw two strange droids.

While one was firing at a cluster of clones, the other was aiming its weapon at the commander. Rex glanced at General Skywalker's apprentice, expecting her to be prepared to defend herself. To his surprise, the Commander was still facing her front, her body language letting Rex know that she had no idea what was about to happen. Knowing he didn't have enough time to fire at the mechanical threats, Rex made a snap decision; he moved in the bolt's path.

When the droid fired its weapon a split second later, the resounding two shots impacted into the officer's stomach. His plastoid armour didn't have a hope of protecting his person, the discharged dual rounds punctured through his protective attire in a matter of microseconds. The force of the impact knocked the clone onto his back, where he lay still.

Ashoka felt an echo of a disturbance in the Force coming from behind her. Despite the fact that she was continuing to deflect enemy fire, the padawan risked a glance behind her. The sight of Captain Rex with two blaster holes burned through his stomach made Ashoka lose concentration for a split second. The small lapse of focus, however, was enough for a single bolt to slip past the Togruta defences and score a hit.

A cry of pain erupted from the girl's throat as she fell to the ground. Shrouds of blackness crept along the padawan's vision despite her best efforts to keep herself conscious. In sheer desperation, the young Togruta reached out with the Force. A sliver of light pierced through the darkness engulfing the girl and it was one she tried to hold onto. It wasn't long before the apprentice felt herself slipping again, her last thought was where her Master was before she surrendered to the darkness.

_Master_. The thought sounded like an echo coming from a great distance, but the word alone forced Anakin Skywalker to stop in his tracks. Only his padawan gave him such a title and the thought of her being in danger made Anakin move as fast as he possibly could.

Harnessing the power of the Force around his limbs, the Jedi Knight moved with such speed that his surroundings whipped past him in a blur of motion. The clone escort, along with the squad rescued from the downed gunship, were startled when the General suddenly darted away from them. The sergeant from the gunship urged the others forward, encouraging them to try to rendezvous with their commanding officer.

It took several seconds before Anakin emerged from the forest and to the clearing beyond, he felt a mixture of sadness and rage at the scene before him. Clones had organized themselves into a widely spaced line, their blaster firing at the closest tree. A more thorough survey let the Jedi know why. Red bolts were being fired from the tall vegetative stalks to the clearing below, none of the targeted soldiers were able to evade the energy rounds. While seeing clones being killed triggered a stab of guilt, anger, and sadness within Anakin, it was nothing compared to the sight of Captain Rex and Ashoka's unmoving bodies.

_I won't fail again_, the promise the Jedi Knight had sworn to uphold by his mother's grave suddenly felt hollow. The rage built up inside the Jedi, part of him knowing that he'd failed to uphold the one vow that mattered. With the burning rage, came the absence of guilt and grief, it was replaced by the desire to destroy those responsible. Anakin's fury served as a refuge from the harsh storm of a possible reality of a dead padawan, and it was one that the wayward Jedi accepted.

A rush of power enveloped the Republic General, his rage seemed to assist in channelling the Force. Turning his attention to the new battle/super battle droid hybrids firing on the clones from the rear, Anakin lashed out with his gathered power. Gripping one of the droids, the Jedi sent it hurtling towards its companion. The force of the impact was more than enough to render to the two droid's inoperative.

With the immediate threat to the clones taken care of, the Jedi Knight stepped to the front lines. Oblivious to the relieved greetings from clones around him, the General tapped into the Force and channelled the harnessed energy to his hands. When Anakin felt as though he would break if he gathered any more energy, he struck his hands outward and unleashed his gathered power. An ear shattering crack reverberated through the air as the energy rushed outward, making it sound as though a storm were brewing in the sky.

The trees, having been the Jedi's target, were forcibly bent by the impact, the force behind the strike was enough to eject the droids from their refuge. With their attackers finally visible to them, the clones were quick to close in and neutralize the droids. In less than three minutes, the area was secure.

Anakin's rage finally subsided with the destruction of the last droid. He quickly moved to his padawan, examining her for injuries. The sight of cauterized flesh on his apprentice's thigh brought a look of concern to the Jedi Knight. He felt slightly relieved when he realized that the bolt had merely grazed her. Drawing on the Force, Anakin directed the gathered energy towards his padawan's injury, stopping only when the skin had regenerated.

Stepping away from his padawan, Anakin knelt down and examined Rex. Two blaster bolts had melted the officer's armour and burned through the clone's stomach, by visible diagnosis, Rex was dead. A quick probing through the Force, however, let Anakin know that the clone officer was still clinging to the last remnants of life. Using the Force once more, the Jedi directed the energy to regenerate the veteran's damaged internal organs. The wounds, themselves however, were too large for Anakin to seal alone.

"I need a medic over here!" Anakin shouted over his shoulder.

The command was answered by a clone from One Platoon. A quick examination of the company commander was all it took for the medic to apply a bacta bandage to wounds sustained by the fallen officer. "He's stable for now General," The Medic said after a check of Rex's vitals, "but he looks close to slipping into shock."

A brief expression of anger flickered across the Jedi's face before he gave a grim nod in acknowledgement. Keying his wrist-COM, Anakin sent out a message, "This is General Skywalker, platoon commanders check in."

A long period of silence filled the other end of the COM, it stretched on to the point where Anakin thought his COM might have been damaged during one of the engagements. "General this is One-One, Sergeant Marks reporting."

"Mission lead, this is One-Two, Master Corporal Lock checking in."

"One-Three, Sergeant Bombard standing by."

Anakin cringed as the commanders made their report, all of the platoon lieutenants had been killed during the engagement. Add that to an incapacitated company second in command and one had a breach in the command structure, one that the Republic General knew he would need to fill. "Sergeant Marks, you are hereby made acting Captain until further notice."

"Understood General," Marks replied.

"I want a quick head count, let me know how many troopers are still good to go."

"Right away sir."

Turning his wrist-COM to standby, Anakin stepped to his padawan when he noticed her stir. "How are you feeling Snips," Anakin gently asked as the girl's eyes fluttered open.

"Master?" Ashoka weakly queried as she shakily rose to her feet, "I'm fine."

Seeing Captain Rex in the same state he was in before Ashoka was injured caused the young Togruta's eyes to widen in fear. Seeing her distress, Anakin quickly reassured her, "Don't worry he's stable, just unconscious."

"It's my fault Master," Ashoka said quietly as she averted her gaze from Rex, "I was so focused on deflecting fire from the front that I didn't sense the danger behind me. If Rex hadn't taken those hits, I'd probably be dead."

"Ashoka," Anakin softly said as he spun her around to face him, "It's not your fault. I know how hard it is to deflect high velocity bolts. The important thing is that you're both alright and that you learned to always be wary of your surroundings."

"Yes Master," Ashoka replied in a not too entirely convinced tone. She thought she felt a hint of anger that wasn't her own, but it dissipated as quickly as it came, so the apprentice shrugged it off.

"General Skywalker," The voice of acting Captain Marks echoed from Anakin's COM.

"Report Captain."

"Thirty casualties were sustained in the last engagement sir; that includes those who are seriously injured. Accounting for the three we lost from gunship six's crash, we now have sixty-seven soldiers at battle readiness General."

"Understood Captain," Anakin said after a sigh, "Delegate twenty-four other troopers to be ready to storm the factory. Have the rest secure a perimeter and evacuate the wounded to the closest gunships."

"Consider it done General," Marks responded before cutting the channel.

Anakin breathed out a sigh in frustration, his forces hadn't even been able to breach the factory and they already lost thirty percent of their original number. Taking a series of deep breaths to calm his shaky nerves, Anakin steeled himself for the upcoming battle; he wasn't going to lose anybody else, not this time.


	6. Once More Into the Breach

Standing outside the entrance to the droid factory, Jedi Anakin Skywalker unclipped his lightsaber and turned to Acting Captain Marks, "Get this open, quietly if you please Captain."

"Roger General," Marks said, his voice filtered through his helmet's external speakers. Tapping into the company's COM channel, Marks knew just the person for the job. "Bypass, you've been selected for a slice and stealth operation."

"Those are two of my favourite things sir. I'm already on it," Bypass said in acknowledgement, his blue striped armoured figure moving from the clone lines to the terminal next to the entrance.

Having predicted a welcoming committee near the entrance, General Skywalker had positioned the twenty-four clones in the assault force into a half circle formation. The overlapping firing arcs promised to ensure that no droids would be able to avoid damage. While Bypass worked on slicing the Separatist security network, the others in the line shifted with anticipation.

While the clones were only waiting for the coming battle, Anakin tried to calm his nerves. He could still feel his anger simmering within him; it was like a lava flow just below a planet's crust, barley contained. Running through Jedi calming techniques was proving fruitless, which only furthered his frustration. Instead of relying on teachings that seemed to fail him, Anakin turned to the tutoring he'd received from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The Republic Head of State had always told him that anger was a natural emotion, and that suppressing it was far more dangerous than embracing it.

"I don't pretend to know what the Jedi have taught you, my boy. I only know from my own experience that suppressing anger is far more risky than simply acknowledging and embracing it." Palpatine's words still echoed trough Anakin's mind, and the young Jedi accepted the practicality of his mentor's words. Rather than attempt to calm himself, Anakin drew into his anger.

It was as though a reserve pool of energy was being accessed within the Jedi. Using emotions seemed to amplify the ease with which a Jedi could access the Force. The reluctant Master briefly contemplated why strong emotions were to be suppressed before pushing the thought aide. The why didn't matter, what mattered was the outcome, and if that outcome was a stronger Force affinity, Anakin wasn't about to refute it.

Ashoka glanced at her Master, his Force aura was suddenly much more vibrant. It was brighter, but something about its pulsating effect also made it seem darker. "Master," She asked after a brief hesitance, "Are you alright?"

A smirk grazed Anakin's features at the question, though such an expression was not visible to his padawan. "I've never been better Snips."

The Togruta apprentice felt that she should elaborate on her concerns, but she was spared from making a decision when Bypass announced that the lockdown was disabled. The clone slicer moved back to his previous position, the factory's blast doors slowly parting as he moved. Anakin quickly ordered an advance, his blue lightsaber igniting in a blaze to deflect the streams of enemy blaster bolts already bearing down on him. His padawan followed likewise and the two charged the droid position, with clones providing covering fire.

"Forward!" Captain Marks called, his voice echoing over the sounds of blaster fire and lightsaber movements.

The twenty four other clones responded to their Captain's order with a shout of approval, their weapons rampantly firing from the shoulder as they stormed the factory's entrance. Blue bolts shredded through droid armour plating and power systems, while answering fire from the mechanicals forced a few clones to temporarily break formation in order to avoid the deadly energy projectiles.

Anakin paused after bisecting a squad of Super Battle droids, he was in the thick of the battle as always. Looking behind him, Anakin could see Ashoka, his padawan seemed to be finding it difficult to keep up with him. The Jedi's observations were cut short, however, when more droids targeted the Force sensitive in their midst. The quick movements of a blue blade were enough to stall the droid advance. Using only his right hand to deflect blaster fire, Anakin gathered the Force in his other hand, he quickly released his gathered power. A thunderous crack resounded within the confined tunnel, pushing Anakin's aggressors back and stripping metal off the hallway in the process.

The remaining Battle and Super Battle droids alike fell to clone accuracy and precise lightsaber strikes, until the entrance was under Republic control. "Captain," Anakin called once the clones, and his padawan, had moved up to his position, "I want a schematic of this factory."

"On it sir," Marks responded before cutting his external speakers to silently communicate with his battlegroup. "Bypass, you heard the General, get it done."

"Right away sir."

Moving to a security console that was fortunate enough not to have been caught in Anakin's Force push, Bypass sliced into the enemy's network. "Passing Sep safeguards," Bypass reported to the platoon, "Downloading schematic……projecting."

A small holo-emitter had been installed into the side of the console, the clone slicer routed the schematics through the holo-emitter. A long hallway with several adjoining rooms materialized in a faint blue hue, the hallway itself was flashing red. Pointing his armoured hand toward the flashing hallway Bypass said, "We are here. The objective is two hundred metres underground." The slicer traced a vertical shaft with his finger as he continued, "There's a lift here that will takes down to the factory itself General. Last report indicates a production of six hundred droids per galactic day."

"Which droids?" Anakin asked with a frown, the thought of more of those new droids was not a pleasant scenario.

"Unknown sir," Bypass responded after a quick check in the Separatist network, "The specifics are not listed in the databanks."

"Alright, good work Bypass."

"Just one more note sir," the adjoining rooms flashing red as the slicer pointed to the indicated areas, "These rooms are listed as droid storage areas. Internal scans show they're inactive but that could change soon."

"Understood, let's move out."

Quick hand signals were exchanged between Captain Marks and his platoon, the previous half-circle formation split into two columns of two man fire teams. Moving along the hallway towards their objective, clones kept their weapons at the ready as they moved toward the lift. One team member looked ahead while the other scanned their designated side, scanning for threats. It only took a couple of minutes before the assault force reached the lift. Stepping onboard, Anakin punched the button to descend once all the clones were ready.

It took five minutes before the rapidly descending elevator came to a halt. The first four clones near the door quickly moved out, forming a small arc as they swept their surroundings for enemies. Anakin stepped into the centre of the arc, the centre trooper acknowledged his presence by saying, "Survey complete General, no immediate threats detected."

"Understood," Anakin said in response as he allowed his gaze to linger on the new surroundings. His forces were currently positioned one of many walkways overlooking the main factory thirty metres below. Automated assembly lines rapidly constructed droids below, Anakin's eyes narrowed when he realized that the new models that had ambushed both himself and Ashoka were the ones being built.

"Captain Marks split your forces, explosive charges in sections three, four, and five, just like we planned."

"Sir, yes sir," Marks quickly said. He motioned to the closest twelve clones, "All of you, come with me."

The appointed twelve silently followed the acting company commander as he stepped on a nearby platform. A quick button press was all it took to send the maintenance lift to the automated area below. Stepping just outside of a conveyor belt that slowly moved completed droid units to storage, Marks pointed to an engineer and motioned with his arm toward the conveyor belt. The acting captain pointed to three clones, pointed to his visor, and then the engineer. The three nodded and moved to cover the demolitionist while he placed the remote charges.

Captain Marks quickly moved to the other sites. At each location, he designated a squad to break away from the main body in order to cover engineers while they placed explosives. A few minutes later all the charges were in place, with all the soldiers formed back up. "General, all the charges are set and ready to detonate."

"Good, rendezvous back in the main hallway, it's time to leave."

"Roger that sir, One-Two out." Marks closed the channel to the General and motioned for his soldiers to follow him out with a quick up and down arm motion.

Enemy COM transmissions found their way into Separatist droid RP 010, now that their enemies had made their motivations clear, they were free to act. "All units commence with protocol three-six on my signal."

The droid leader paused to look down the barrel of his high powered rifle, his photoreceptors automatically zooming in at his target. "Initiate," The droid leader broadcasted the simple order as soon as he had a confirmed lock.

Acting Captain Marks instantly hit the deck when the sound of a high powered blaster bolt impacted in the area behind him. The newly promoted officer glanced back to find that three of his brethren were down; each of their chest plates having been punctured by a single, well placed shot. Pushing down his fear, Marks gritted his teeth behind his helmet and opened a channel to his platoon. "Enemy fire from above! Find cover fast!"

Instantly breaking away from their previous formation, the platoon scrambled to move behind stockpiled droid parts. A few were unfortunate enough to have been killed by droids as they made a run for it. "Return fire, but keep low!" Marks ordered before switching to General Skywalker's COM frequency, "General, we're pinned down in section five." Marks cursed as a blaster bolt passed mere centimetres from his head, "We could use some help over here!"

"That's a negative Captain. We've got our own problems over here." General Skywalker's transmission was filled with the sounds of blaster fire and lightsaber swings.

"Understood sir," The newly promoted clone replied with a tinge of frustration lacing his voice, "We'll make do." Switching his COM back to his platoon's frequency, the officer said, "Bypass, is there any other way back to the main level!"

There was a slight pause before the slicer's voice answered, "There is one other sir, but it takes us up to one of the droid storage rooms. If they get activated—"

"I'm aware of the risks Bypass," Marks said, cutting off the slicer's warning, "Lead the way on my mark. We'll cover you."

"Roger."

"Troops, suppressive fire!"

The Captain's fellow clones acknowledged the order, blind firing over their cover in the general direction of the above walkways. A few, more daring, soldiers took aimed shots at their aggressors. Blue bolts missed their targets for the most part; though the sight of their enemies returning fire made some of the Separatist droids hesitate in attacking. Marks waited for only a few seconds before he gave the command for Bypass to lead the way. The slicer sprinted from his cover and moved toward the area designated as section eight on the tactical map displayed in Marks' HUD.

"Move out!" The officer's order echoed onto the COM channel, with the rest of his soldiers being quick to follow. Captain Marks rolled away from his cover, taking up the rear in the line as the platoon sprinted on the other side of a conveyor belt. High powered blaster shots landed dangerously close to the armoured troops, though a couple were fatally struck by the bolts. "Remember your training soldiers! Zig-zag it!"

The Acting Captain's orders were swiftly obeyed, the platoons began to move in a random pattern of left and right deviations to their original course, such a tactic proved to be just enough to throw off the aim of their enemies.

Bypass stopped after covering a distance of a hundred metres. One of the lifts he'd seen in the schematics was right before him. They were designed to transfer completed units to the storage areas above. He quickly accessed a terminal once he spotted it near the lift controls. The automated systems activated the lift once it had been fully stocked with completed units. A simple over-ride was all it took to transfer manual control to the slicer.

Bypass waited for the signal to trigger the lift while his brothers quickly began to pile in. One clone was struck in the leg just ten metres from the lift. The targeted soldier dropped with a scream, his weapon scattering out of his reach as he tried to break his fall. Captain Marks quickly picked the fallen soldier up, positioned him on his shoulders. Noticing that enemy fire had intensified in that location, one of the sergeants moved out of the lift and fired at the walkways above while he shouted, "Covering fire!"

Four others followed the Sergeant's example, forming a loose line they moved from side to side as their blasters discharged on full automatic. Blue and red bolts flashed against both floor and ceiling alike as both sides tried to kill the other. As soon as the Captain said clear, however, the party of five moved back onto the lift.

Barley able to squeeze the platoon in with all the units already stocked, Bypass activated the lift once all of his brothers were aboard. The lift shot upward, droid fire targeted their position for a few seconds longer before the Republic assault force was out of range. "Stay sharp, we're not out of this yet," Marks' order was directed at two troopers who had started to relax their posture. His words immediately made the two shift back into ready stances.

The lift came to a halt some ten seconds later, its clone occupants quickly pouring out and taking up firing positions to ensure that the whole room was covered. "Inactive droids in the room Captain, but other than the obvious the area appears clear."

A tight grin formed at the corners of the acting officer's mouth at the soldier's report. Indeed, nearly the entire rectangular room with a width of about two hundred metres was filled with rows of the new, inactive, droid models. "A simple 'clear' will suffice soldier."

"Just being thorough sir."

"We need to hurry if we're going to rendezvous with the General." Marks said, his gaze lingering on the door that would take his platoon back into the main hallway. The officer pointed to the door, his COM still on, "Alright troopers, let's rearrange some architecture."

"I never liked Sep structures anyway," One of the engineers said in reply as he moved toward his target.

The rest of the platoon quickly stacked in a single file line on either side of the door. With the last two in each line sweeping the room to ensure they weren't ambushed. Captain Marks made sure his group was ready before giving the order to plant the charge.

"Placing explosive," The engineer reported, a thermal charge fastened to the middle of the door. The COM was silent for a couple of seconds before his voice returned, "Clear!" The engineer shouted as he took a step back and braced himself for the explosion.

That event occurred three seconds later, the thermal reaction broke the seal on the blast door and forced it to slide apart. The doorway was just wide enough for Captain Marks and the engineer to move in side by side, their weapons panning their surroundings as they performed a quick survey for threats. "Area clear," The Acting Captain said, "Everyone, move up!"

The platoon quickly filed out from their previous location, their two columns breaking to form a loose line of two-man fire teams. The clones moved at a light jog, a pace fast enough to get them to the factory's exit in five minutes, only to encounter another obstacle.

Faint grins formed on the members of Marks' platoon when the Acting Captain inadvertently broadcasted a few curse words in Mando'a over an open COM channel. With their only exit out of Separatist territory sealed, they would need to find a way to open it. "Inventory listing, do any engineers have demolition charges left?"

"Negative sir," The reply came back a few seconds later. "We only have two thermal charges left and they won't be enough to cut through the seals of that blast door."

"Understood," The acting officer replied, "Bypass, we need your skills once again."

"Aren't I the popular one," The slicer's cynical remark caused a few nearby troopers to chuckle while Bypass moved to a nearby terminal. "Hacking into the enemy network, standby."

A few tense minutes passed before Marks's impatience got the better of him, "What's the holdup Bypass?"

"Enemy droids have engaged a lockdown, exit controls have been severed from the main hub. Given our lack of explosives, we need a Jedi to cut through this door." Bypass paused before turning to his commanding officer, "I've also found the specifications for the new droid models."

"Download them if you can, we'll need all the intel we can get on those things."

"Yes, sir!" Bypass said, acknowledging the Acting Captain's command with a nod before turning back to the terminal.

Captain Marks changed to General Skywalker's platoon frequency, "Sir, we're holding position just outside the entrance. The droids have initiated a lockdown, our slicer can't open the door and we don't have the right explosives to blow a hole through these blast doors."

"Standby Captain," General Skywalker's voice answered back, the sounds of blaster fire still audible in the background. "We've ran into a reinforcing contingent, sit tight."

"Roger that sir, holding position."

Bypass' fingers danced across the controls as he once again infiltrated the Separatist network. "Attempting to slip past counter infiltration programs, wait out."

No sooner did Bypass finish his sentence then the platoon could hear the distinctive clunking noise of marching droids. "Great," Marks said with a scowl, "Two Platoon, defensive pattern Echo Three Six. Move!"

Silent head nods came from a few while the rest swiftly moved to either kneeling positions against the wall or the prone position on the ground. Each had their carbines and rifles primed and pointed at the approaching threat, a swarm of the new droid models.

"On my signal, scrap the Seps." Marks barked the command into the COM. He positioned himself with the front rank, one hand holding his DC-15 carbine steady while the other rested on his last thermal detonator. "Steady troopers…let them get closer," Marks said with as much determination as he could muster. The droids continued their slow march, the deafeningly loud clanking of their moving mechanical limbs echoing in the hallway. There were so many that it just looked as though a massive flood of droids was closing in on their location.

When the first rank of droids started to raise their carbines, Marks ordered the others to fire with a single action. The ex non-com threw his last grenade with the shouted precautionary of, "Thermal det!"

The explosive landed just beyond the third rank, it rolled for another half a second before detonating. Orange flames melted nearby droid circuitry within microseconds, while the force of the blast itself, propelled the automatons into each other. Clones opened fire while the droids were still in disarray, blue bolts flashing from their weapons, creating a path of destruction through enemy ranks.

Republic soldiers kept up a steady rate of fire, their blasters discharged in short, controlled bursts. The older droid models would continue on with their original tactic, but these droids were not part of that generation. Instead of continuing to press forward, the droids sought cover in the hallway, all except for a few in the rear rank who holstered their carbines and selected their rifles. The droids shouldered their long-range weapons, aimed at the closest targets, and squeezed off a round. The high velocity energy rounds struck a few kneeling clones directly in the centre of mass, puncturing their camouflaged armour with ease.

Through the scenes of blaster fire exchange, with red and blue bolts flashing in the hallway. Through the sounds of reloading blaster rifles, with depleted power cells being exchanged. Through the cries of pain from the wounded as they carried on fighting, and through the boom of grenades, Captain Marks was still able to see three of his brethren go down from droid rifles. "Riflemen," The platoon leader barked into a COM channel, "Concentrate your fire on the snipers! First rank with me! Move! Move! Move!"

The four other clones in the first line charged ahead to a nearby intersection in the main corridor, their carbines firing from either the hip or shoulder as they moved. The officer split his forces; three took the left side while he moved with another to the right. Rather than move down the dividing corridor, however, both teams used the corners provided by the intersection as cover from the Separatist advance.

Acting Captain Marks growled in anger as a droid energy round made contact with his hip before he could re-seek cover after emerging to fire off a quick burst. Waving off the trooper who had pulled him back to safety, Marks leaned against the wall and blind fired his carbine while he opened a COM channel, "Bypass, status!"

"Working around the last of their security lockout now sir, I should be done in a minute."

Marks sent an acknowledgement before switching to General Skywalker's frequency, "One-Two to lead, we're pinned down at the entrance, encountering heavy resistance! Where the hell are you sir?!" The officer cringed at his choice of words; his Mandalorian instructor would have a few things to say about that if he ever found out.

"E.T.A is two minutes. Stand fast Captain, we're almost there."

Relieved that his commanding officer let his comment slide, Marks simply replied with, "Acknowledged sir."

Two minutes, a short period of time to any normal sentient. But for soldiers engaged in combat, minutes seemed to drag on. After all, a single minute could determine the outcome of a battle. The clones of Two Platoon were discovering that lesson first hand as the mechanical combatants continued advancing; the Republic soldiers were having a hard time pushing them back.

"Stand your ground troopers, stand your ground!" Marks shouted the order into the COM, his back still against the wall as his wound prevented him from moving. The droids were making their push now that they'd weakened Marks' platoon strength. They were rapidly moving forward, their numbers were enough that the majority of the hallway was filled with red blaster bolts. Carbon scoring was numerous enough to give the factory's interior a new colour.

Despite a lifetime of training, the clones of Two Platoon knew they would not be able to last much longer. Their only goal now was to delay the Separatists until Bypass finished downloading the specifications for the enemy's new droids. At least then, their deaths would serve a purpose and be honourable. Part of that sense of honour came from their Mandalorian instructors, the rest of it came from their template, Jango Fett. The strive to be honourable in battle was an inherit part of every Mandalorian, and it, more than anything else, was what made Two Platoon hold their position.


	7. Unsettling Discoveries

**Sorry for the wait, I'll be trying to update more frequentlly now.**

* * *

Blaster fire reached an intensity that Marks had never seen before , their cover had taken so many hits that he wasn't sure it would hold for much longer. "Does anyone have any grenades left?!" Marks shout seemed to echo through the team's COM channel.

"That's a negative Captain," One of his soldiers replied, "We're not going to able to last much—," A burst of static was mingled with a scream before the transmission went silent.

"Soldier, report! Soldier!" Marks desperately cried into the COM. He was losing too many of his section, only half of their number were still alive and well enough to fight.

"_Mandalorians never surrender. If the enemy has you cornered then fight for as long as you are able. That, is a warrior's ethos."_ One of Mark's former Mandalorian instructors had always taught them that it was better to die fighting than to surrender. It was an ideal that was engraved into every clone and the newly promoted officer was no different.

"If I'm to die, then I will die on my feet, not on my knees." Marks whispered the ancient Mandalorian statement to himself as he slowly started to stand.

Mentally distancing himself from the intense pain flaring through his right hip, the officer moved to a standing position and continued firing at the rapidly advancing Separatist forces. Bursts of blue blaster bolts impacted into the lead row of droids, but their armour plating held firm against the onslaught and they continued their march.

Droid bolts were starting to concentrate on the three exposed clones still alive near the entranceway. Bypass and the others dove to the side to take advantage of the limited amount of cover available in the hallway.

"Bypass," Marks yelled into his COM, "Get your squad out of there! Mark my position and move up!"

"Covering fire would be appreciated sir," The slicer shouted back.

"Cheeky bastard," Marks muttered to himself, his helmet COM channel redirected to the remainder of his platoon, "Suppressive fire! Keep up the pressure!"

The survivors demonstrated their compliance, rifles and carbines flared toward the approaching mechanical units sending bolts through amour plating and circuitry alike. Aware of the dangers of the new threat, the majority of the Separatist aggressors focused their efforts on the newly exposed targets. Red bolts were fired with enough precision that the clones had to resort to blind firing around corners to stay alive. The distraction made the droid pause when Bypass and his group moved forward. Though the pause was only for a fraction of a second, the time window was just enough for Bypass and one other to roll to safety. The last in the group was killed by a high velocity energy shot to the torso before he could reach his destination.

Now having no clear target to engage, the first rank of droids quickly switched to their vibro-blades and moved forward. Captain Marks barley had time to shout out a warning before the new models were on them. The newly promoted officer had the mindset to squeeze off a quick burst as a droid moved to strike. At such close range, accuracy was hardly necessary, the blaster bolts shredded through enough circuitry to disable the droid.

His comrades, however, weren't as quick to draw and they soon found themselves locked in melee combat against superior armed foes. Blasters turned from range weapons into close combat arms, carbines and rifles were used to block the droid's attacks, though a few did manage to go on the offensive.

Captain Marks levelled his blaster at the nearest droid and snapped off a single bolt. Though the round impacted into the droid, it was not enough to cause anything more than superficial damage. The mechanical combatant moved to exact its revenge on the interfering officer, but a quick strike to the droid's head from the previously engaged clone put an end to such a vendetta. Having noticed that the clones across from him had already dealt with their attackers, Marks moved to blind fire down the corridor once more. He was seconds away from firing a quick burst of fire when an explosive bang echoed within the confines of the factor's first floor.

The Captain's first thought was that another series of droid units had activated and escaped from a storage room but that theory seemed to fade as the Separatist forces ceased their advance. The officer was spared from having to look around the corner when another series of cracks reverberated in the main corridor. The sounds were quickly accompanied by the sight of a large group of droids being propelled into the blast door that marked the exit from the factory.

A large collection of metal panels that previously been affixed to the corridor's walls now lay strewn across the floor, exposing a collection of wires and conduits. The Separatist forces that had been thrown into the blast door had gained enough velocity to crush their chassis, leaving them completely disabled. A small grin formed on Mark's face as he realized that such an attack could only come from a Jedi.

What was left of Marks' platoon marched out into corridor with weapons ready, just in case. They all relaxed their guard, however, when they saw General Skywalker and his platoon sprinting towards them. "Captain, I heard you needed an exit," Anakin said with a grin.

"Yes sir," Marks replied with a grin hidden by his helmet, "If its not too much trouble that is."

Anakin motioned to his padawan, "Ashoka, get these soldiers to the extraction point. Tell the pilots to standby for lift-off."

"Yes Master," Ashoka replied. She took a few steps toward the blast door before she turned around, "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me, Snips. Just get these men out of here."

Ashoka hesitated, her mind remembering what had happened to her Master the last time he had tried to stop a harmful force on his own. A tense movement from the clones forced her gaze to linger past Anakin, where the previously downed droids were starting to get back up.

Anakin raised his lightsaber in a defensive posture, but as he stretched out with the Force he could tell that his padawan was right behind him. He fixed her with a look that warranted no argument, "Go!"

Snapping out of her reverie, Ashoka nodded and sprinted toward the blast door, the remaining clones following in her wake. The padawan quickly cut a hole for the clones to escape, while battle weary soldiers slowly made their way out, Ashoka cast one last look at her Master. He was already deflecting carbine and high powered rifle shots from the reawakened Separatist forces. Fighting the urge to help, Ashoka waited for the last clone to leave before following.

Sunlight was the first thing the young Togruta could feel once she emerged from the factory. The grassland and forest would've been distracting, if they weren't still filled with the bodies of dead Republic and Separatist forces. Ashoka took a look at the clones she was leading to safety and noticed that the ragged clones were still maintaining their guard, despite their injuries. Intent on completing her objective as quickly as possible, the apprentice switched on her wrist-COM. "Sergeant Bombard, have you finished evacuating the wounded?"

"Yes sir," The gruff voice of the veteran soldier responded.

"Good, I have soldiers here that need a lift. Can the pilots move here without triggering the aerial defence grid?"

"One moment Commander," There was a few seconds of COM silence before the Sergeant returned, "It can be done sir, Gunships Two and Eight are already on their way."

A few seconds later the distinctive whine of an LAAT could be heard. The gunship was only gained only enough altitude to skim through the forest treetops before touching down in front of Ashoka and her group.

Even before the retractable doors slid apart, Captain Marks was already delegating commands. "One Platoon, get on board!"

Despite the fact that the area was undoubtedly secure from hostiles, the weary platoon formed a half circle in front of the gunship, their weapons pointed toward the factory. One by one, the clones broke formation and boarded the transport.

The second LAAT arrived a couple of minutes later, Captain Marks started to limp in the direction of the transport. "New gunship, Two platoon move! Move! Move!"

Ashoka waited for the clones to perform their last check of the perimeter before heading into Gunship Eight. She cast a glance toward the factory's entrance, mentally debating whether she should go back and help her master now that she had completed her objective. "Ashoka," A voice that could only belong to her master shouted from her wrist-COM, "Tell the engineers to detonate their charges now!"

The young apprentice sent her acknowledgement and relayed the order to Captain Marks. A few seconds passed before a slight shake could be felt in the ground. Knowing that the charges had been placed two hundred metres underground, the padawan knew that the chain reaction must have been immense for the Republic to feel anything on the surface.

As soon as the explosion could be felt, the distant sounds of blaster fire ceased. Ashoka gripped her lightsaber hilt tighter, fearing the worst. Thoughts of seeing her master as broken and injured as she herself had been earlier forced the padawan to move toward the factory. Before she could do anything more, however, Anakin sprinted out of the complex, his lightsaber moving to block the occasional shots that still tracked him. Without a word, the Jedi Knight grabbed his padawan and the two quickly moved to Gunship Eight. Anakin stilled his breath long enough to broadcast a message to the company, "All pilots move to the _Resolute_ at maximum speed."

Just as they were trained, the pilots obeyed the order without hesitation, forcing the LAATs to gain altitude and move toward the Venator-class Star Destroyer overheard. "General," Sergeant Bombard said, "What about their auto defence turrets?"

"The generator was destroyed underground, Sergeant. You needn't worry about it."

True to his words, no more blaster flak was fired at the retreating gunships, the guns stayed silent. "Admiral Yularen, this is Skywalker."

"The Resolute hears you General," The Admiral responded, "The bomber squadrons have already been deployed."

"Good, send them on strafing runs to the target," The Jedi paused as if he were trying to make a final decision, "And ready the _Resolute_ for orbital bombardment."

A silence seemed to fill the interior of Gunship Eight after the Admiral's weary acknowledgement, punctuated only by the continual sound of the LAAT's repulsor-lift engines. Not surprisingly, Ashoka was the first to break it. "Master, we can't _bombard_ this planet!"

Anakin turned to regard his padawan with a cold gaze, "Why not?"

The sheer simplicity of the question left Ashoka silent for a handful of seconds, "Because it's wrong! That's what the Separatists do, it's the type of butchery that Grievous—"

"Before, you go any further," Anakin stated with the same cold tone, cutting his padawan off mid-sentence. "May I remind you that this planet's only living inhabitants are droids, animals, and vegetation, there is no sentient life. Besides," Anakin continued when it looked as though the young Togruta was about to argue once more, "Only the factory is going to be targeted."

"That doesn't make it much better," Ashoka spoke in almost a whisper. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of contradicting her master, "The bombers should be enough, we don't need to fire on this planet."

"Know your place padawan!" Anakin shouted as he turned to look at her, "Unless you're telling me that you _want_ these new droid models to be integrated into the Separatist military."

"Of course I don't," Ashoka said in a trembling voice, her eyes glistening with moisture.

"Then this discussion," Anakin said as he turned away from her, "Is over."

The Jedi Knight tried to get control of the intense anger he had been feeling throughout the battles in the factory. He risked a glance at his padawan and felt a small stab of guilt when he saw that she was trying to refrain from crying in front of the clones. Two Platoon, even though their faces were hidden beneath their helmets, seemed surprised at what had just occurred; as evidenced by their postures. As quickly as the feeling of guilt entered his senses, however, it was swallowed by the anger that still coursed through him.

The gunship soon docked with the Resolute's ventral hangar, sparing the rest of its occupants from having to cope with the silence that sill lingered inside. As soon as the transport landed and the doors slid apart, Ashoka moved at a fast walk out of the hangar. To Anakin, it was obvious that she didn't want to appear distraught in front of the clones, though she clearly was.

Tearing his gaze away from his retreating padawan, the reluctant mentor looked to the company's acting commander, "Captain, get yourself and the others medical attention and some rest. Mission debriefing is in three hours."

Marks nodded gratefully to the generous allotted time, "Yes sir, thank you sir."

"I'll be on the bridge," Anakin said as an after-thought as he moved away from the clones to his conversed destination. It took the Jedi two minutes to reach the bridge, but it took five more minutes before he had his anger under enough control to warrant a visit to the cruiser's command centre.

"Admiral, report," Anakin said once he was beside the man in question, gazing out the bridge's observation window.

"Bomber squadrons have finished their runs; they're already on their way back. Starboard batteries are locked on the target."

"Very good, extend target radius to 500 metres. We can't afford to have these droids become apart of the Separatist forces."

"Target parameters updated," A gunnery officer called from the starboard crew pit, "Standing by."

"Fire," Anakin said in almost a regretful whisper, though he was loud enough to be heard by the gunnery officer.

Turbolaser batteries opened fire, their heavy blue bolt payload rained down on the surface of the planet like a meteor shower. Craters formed in the ground, as the deadly projectiles impacted into Crato. What was left of the Separatist factory was destroyed within seconds; the durasteel plating didn't have a hope of withstanding the bombardment.

The Jedi Knight gazed out of the observation tower for thirty minutes, the time it took for the Resolute's gunners to fulfill his commands. Once the gunnery crew reported that the bombardment was complete, Anakin turned to the Admiral, "I'll inform you of our next destination shortly Admiral."

"Understood sir," The Admiral responded before he barked orders for the _Resolute_ to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet still maintaining a high orbit above Crato.

As soon as the Jedi General exited the bridge, he let out a sigh. The last fifteen minutes had finally allowed him to let his anger subside. Now, another strong emotion dominated his senses. Guilt. The young Jedi couldn't get Ashoka's fearful face out of his mind, he knew his decision had been right, the thought of more of those of droids hunting Jedi was enough to form a knot in his stomach; still he knew he should have gently explained his reasoning to her. Knowing he had to repair the damage he'd inflicted on their Master/Padawan relationship, Anakin headed to Ashoka's quarters.

A few minutes later the Jedi was standing just outside of his destination. He steeled himself with a calm exterior before opening the door. The sight of Ashoka's tear-stricken face sharply turning to look at him, and seeing her eyes widen in fear when she realized who was there almost made his calm façade slip. Approaching her slowly to try not to scare her, Anakin sat down beside her on the bunk.

Quarters above Republic cruisers were small for officers, only the bare essentials were present in such rooms, those being refreshers and beds. The clones, however, were stationed in larger rooms where more space was needed in order to have eight men in one room.

"Snips," the Republic General began quietly, "I'm sorry about what I said back in the gunship. It was just…" He trailed off. _Just what?_ He thought to himself, _just me using my anger to fuel my Force affinity? _Thinking back over the mission, Anakin tried to remember what had caused his initial eruption of rage.

"It was just…" Ashoka pried with a mixture of sadness, anger, and curiosity.

"Seeing you and Rex get hit struck me hard. I just had a hard time calming down afterward." He knew the last sentence wasn't entirely true but he couldn't let any Jedi know that he'd immersed himself in fury, least of all his padawan.

Ashoka studied her master, she could tell from his posture that he truly regretted his actions, but she also _knew_ that he was telling the truth from his words alone. She didn't know if she was manifesting a new Force ability, but she could sense sincerity in her mind as he spoke, though it didn't feel like it was a part of her own feelings.

"So?" Anakin finally asked as he turned to look at her.

His padawan's response came in the form of a hug, something that surprised the Jedi Knight. He stiffened for a moment before lazily returning the embrace. Ashoka pulled away a few seconds later, a small smile on her face as she said, "You're forgiven Skyguy."

Anakin was surprised by her sudden acceptance, "Uh…great." He stood and moved toward the door, motioning for his padawan to follow, "Well come on, we're going to pay Rex a visit," He stopped after opening the door, "And Snips, its _Master_ Skyguy to you."

"Yes Master," Ashoka replied, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Master and padawan stepped into the recovery section of the medical bay, expecting to see Captain Rex laying on one of the many bunk beds laid against the wall. A quick survey revealed that the officer in question was not present. "Rex must still be receiving treatment," The Jedi Knight spoke more to himself than to his apprentice as the two moved further in.

The treatment section in the Medbay held everything from standard sterile bandages to the famous Bacta tanks. Examination tables were spaced out around the wide rectangular room, their occupants being attended to by medical droids. The majority of the clones receiving care were either sitting or lying down on the tables, their wounds painful but not life-threatening. Three clones, however, were fully immersed in the blue, healing Bacta fluids.

While Anakin did not recognize the other two, bleached blonde hair in one of the tanks let the Jedi know that he had found his injured company Captain. A quick check on the tank's terminal revealed that the regeneration cycle would be complete in thirty seconds. The General decided to pass the time by checking up on the injured soldiers, a quick query to a passing med-droid let him know where Acting Captain Marks was being treated.

Marks was lying on one of the examination tables at the far end of the room with his eyes closed, the armour protecting his head and upper body lay on the floor beside him. A small hole in his right hip marked the spot where one of the new droid models had managed to land a lucky shot. After stripping the ex-noncom of his armour, the med-droid had declared his injury not a priority and moved to assess the more critically injured first, as dictated by triage. Even though Marks knew the value of such a system, it didn't stop him from mentally cursing the mechanical doctor as it lumbered to another table.

"Captain Marks," A voice called from his left.

Marks tried to open his eyes, but the bright illumination forced him to shut them again as his retina tried to adjust to the light differential. He could tell by the voice's tone of his rank, though, that he was being addressed by a superior officer and so he tried to move his stiff body into a sitting position in order to pay the proper respects. He was, however, immediately told to relax and he gratefully complied. By then his eyes had adapted and so he opened them to find General Skywalker and Commander Ashoka standing at the side of his table.

"How are you feeling Captain?" The General asked once he had opened his eyes.

"Same as during the battle sir, med-droids haven't gotten around to patching me up yet. There are still others with worse injuries." Marks continued with a small grin, "It's not Captain anymore either sir, I heard that Captain Rex has been stabilized and is going to make a full recovery."

"That's true, as for your rank," Anakin replied with a grin of his own, "That's up to you."

"Sir?" Marks queried, his confusion blatantly evident by his expression.

"The leadership skills you demonstrated during the mission were very impressive. Your quick thinking was undoubtedly what helped save your platoon from those new droids." The Jedi paused to let the words sink in before continuing, "As for your rank, you have two choices. Since the position as Torrent Company Captain is filled by Captain Rex, you can choose to remain as a Captain and get transferred to another unit, or help me reorganize the platoon command structure as a Lieutenant."

Marks was left reeling for a few seconds, he'd never thought he'd survive long enough to be permanently promoted to an officer rank. While it was slightly tempting to be a Captain, the thought of a transfer to a new unit didn't set well with the injured clone. He'd built strong friendships with those in his platoon and he wasn't about to abandon them when they had lost a good number on Crato. "I'd rather serve as a Lieutenant, sir," Marks spoke after a long pause.

"Very good, then I'll leave you to your recovery _Lieutenant_." The General stressed the new rank with a smile before leaving his new platoon leader to his treatment.

After conversing to a med-droid again, upon seeing Rex's empty Bacta tank, Anakin discovered that the veteran officer had been placed in the recovery section of the medical bay. Returning to the room the two had first arrived, the Republic leaders easily spotted Rex's signature appearance amongst the others. "Rex, how you holding up?"

"Pretty good General, amazing substance Bacta." The Captain switched his gaze to Ashoka and searched her for signs of injury, "You alright kid?"

"I'm fine, got grazed by one of those clankers but Skyguy healed it."

Rex nodded, he was about to leave the conversation at that when he remembered seeing all of his brethren trying to fight an enemy they could not see. "How many did we lose General?"

"Too many Rex, last confirmed K.I.A count was twenty-three. All of the platoon lieutenants were among them, but Lieutenant Marks has filled one of those holes."

While those loses were, proportionately, fairly high, the officer had expected their small assault force to have suffered far more casualties. _Probably would have, _he thought,_ if the General and Commander weren't there_. While he mourned the loss of his brethren, he knew it wouldn't do to dwell on it. "I slip unconscious for a few hours and look what happens," Rex said, a tight smile breaking his normally stony expression, "What would you do without me General?"

"I don't know Rex," The Jedi Knight said as he laid a hand on the company Captain's shoulder, "And I'm never going to." The Jedi paused to consult a nearby terminal displaying the time indicated by the ship's chrono. "There's a mission debriefing in two hours, if you think you're up for it."

"Don't worry about me sir, I'll be there."

The reluctant Master nodded, "Get some rest then Captain."

With Rex's confirmation, both Anakin and Ashoka both headed to their respective quarters in order to take advantage of the remaining free time before the debriefing.

An hour and fifty-five minutes later, Anakin and his padawan were standing in what many clones had come to call the briefing room. The roughly square shaped room had been fitted with consoles, tactical maps, and holo-projectors. While such devices normally displayed the current data on an impending assignment, only the holo-proejctor was currently active, its display that of the schematics for the new droid models encountered on Crato.

In addition to the Jedi Knight and his apprentice, Captain Rex, Lieutenant Marks, and Bypass were also present. Generally, only officers would be attending such a gathering, but Marks had insisted on allowing the clone slicer to be present. Now, as Anakin gazed at the schematics for the newly discovered mechanical combatants, he could understand why.

"According to the files I was able to download sir, these assassin droids are designed to seek out and eliminate both Jedi and clone officers. Their entire frames are constructed out of cortosis, making them able to resist both lightsaber and blaster attacks." Bypass paused to study the droid's schematics again before continuing, "Their weapons are also lined with the same mineral, though their vibroblades have a higher concentration."

"Excellent work Bypass," The Jedi Knight said, "While I hope Crato was their only factory for these, I sincerely doubt it."

The clone slicer hesitated a moment before speaking of the revelation he'd finally deciphered two hours ago. "Sir, there is something else you should know."

"Go ahead."

"While I infiltrated the Separatist databanks, I was able to get a hold of a few other files. Most of them are typical listings of specific commands and timetables for construction but there was one file attached to an inventory listing of parts received from a Separatist freighter." Noticing that he had everyone's complete attention he pushed on, "It took a while to unscramble the code, apparently the droids tried to delete it, but I was able to uncover a simple message."

The schematic and tactical readout of the new Separatist assassin droids were replaced by a simple text message: INCREASE DEFENCES, THE REPUBLIC IS COMING. "Do you have a time index on this?" Anakin asked, his eyes hardening as he gazed at the projector.

"Yes, sir, the message was sent only a few hours after we departed for this planet."

"That would have given them six days to prepare their welcoming. Have you been able to track the source of the transmission?"

"No sir, the transmission was routed several times and the trail ends at the Kiflor system."

* * *

**And so the plot starts to unfold....**

**Let me know what you think! I need them motivations.**


	8. Fires Above Tyfex

**Thanks to Toby and Marie Nomad for the reviews, they helped me to start writing this chapter right after I posted the previous one. **

**I may make the next couple of chapter as long as this one, I acutally made this one shorter than I originally intended.**

**Anyway, here's Chapter 8, enjoy.**

* * *

After the debriefing, Anakin had wasted no time in moving to the _Resolute's _bridge, his padawan hot on his heels. It was almost unthinkable to believe that the Republic had another traitor in their midst, and even more disconcerting to know that such a turncoat would have to be in a high position either within the military or in Coruscant's government, to relay a warning to the Separatists only hours after Anakin had received his orders.

The Jedi stormed onto the ridge, quickly informing the Admiral that he needed to make a Priority Alpha transmission to the Jedi Council. Yularen had responded instantly, ordering all personnel out of the communications room until further notice. The Republic General now stood by the _Resolute's_ COM terminal, awaiting a response after having already sent the correct code words to warrant such a transmission.

Jedi task forces regularly contacted the High Council, making it difficult to get a normal status report or mission update through, especially in the Outer-Rim. Priority Alpha transmissions, however, were instantly relayed to the Republic capital, often having to be routed through several Outer-Rim command stations. The urgency of the Jedi's information ensured that he was speaking to Masters Windu and Kenobi in less than five seconds.

"Jedi Skywalker," Mace Windu said once his form was shown on the holo-projector, "We've received your priority call sign."

"Masters," Anakin said, "I have just uncovered some disturbing news." The Jedi went on to explain the information Bypass had uncovered from their assault on Crato, how the Separatists had been able to mobilize a formidable defence grid in the time it had taken his fleet to arrive in-system, and how the warning had been issued to the CIS only hours after Anakin had departed. "Bypass tried to track the transmission back to its source, but the trail ends in the Kiflor system."

"This is disturbing indeed," Master Windu said, his expression having grown graver the more Anakin spoke. "We'll confer with the rest of the Council and inform the Chancellor. In the meantime, you are to proceed to Kiflor, you must uncover the identity of this informant."

With the Jedi Knight's acknowledgement, Windu's holographic form faded away, though Obi-Wan's remained. Anakin, oblivious, was about to cut the transmission when his old Master spoke, "You look troubled Anakin."

Anakin looked up to see his Master gazing at him with a concerned expression, despite their past relations, he hesitated. Having to explain the highlights on Crato, had reminded him of the fact that he'd embraced his anger. Regardless of the fact that it was for a short time, the very principles of the Jedi forbid such an action. He debated on whether discussing it with his former Master, but a quick glance to his side let him know that _his _padawan was still in the room.

Instead of voicing what was truly worrying him, he said, "I'm just unnerved by this discovery Master. First Sergeant Slick, now some unknown turncoat with a notable position of power. I can't help but feel that we'll start turning against each other because of this." The young Jedi mentor didn't realize how true that statement was until he voiced it.

"Don't dwell on unforeseen problems that may or may not happen Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently, "Sometimes it's more important to concentrate on the present then look to the future."

"Yes Master."

Obi-Wan nodded to his former apprentice, his holographic form vanishing thereafter. The Jedi Knight breathed a deep sigh, his padawan still standing by his side, casting him a curious glance. She seemed to be on the verge of asking him whether something was wrong, and there was really only one person he felt he could confide in at the moment. "Snips, inform Admiral Yularen that we've been ordered to move to the Kiflor system. After you've done that, get some rest. I have a feeling we're both going to need it for this investigation."

Ashoka hesitated a moment, "Yes Master," She eventually acknowledged, her lithe form exiting the room.

Alone with his thoughts, The General rubbed his eyes, fatigue starting to settle in now that the adrenaline was finally starting to recede from his system. Looking back to the communications terminal, Anakin took a deep breath before inputting a code he'd memorized for years. He had received the private COM frequency from the person the Jedi considered to be his mentor in the ways of the real world. It had been imparted to him shortly after he and Obi-Wan and returned from a particularly long assignment in the Inner-Rim; the first he'd undertaken as a padawan. When the young apprentice had returned with an abundance of both frustration and queries, his mentor had given the frequency to him as a way of contacting him whenever he wanted to talk.

Anakin turned back to the holo-projector to see his mentor gazing at him with a small smile, "Something troubles you, my boy?"

Despite whatever façade Anakin shrouded himself with, the Supreme Chancellor had a way of knowing how he was really feeling. Although he posed his statement as a query, it sounded more like an observation. "Yes, Excellency."

The weary Jedi recited everything he'd told the Council, though this time he included the part about how he had embraced his anger and how he had been able to gain a greater Force affinity, though it had taken a great deal of work before he had been able to regain his calm. The Chancellor was mostly silent during the Jedi's explanation, only asking a few questions every now and then for clarification.

"I'm afraid of what I did, Excellency." Anakin finished with a sigh.

"Do you regret gaining the ability to deal with an enemy you had never before encountered?" The Chancellor asked with a confused look.

"No, Excellency. I merely regret that it took so long for me to regain control."

"From what you've told me over the years Anakin, I can only guess that your lack of trusting your feelings in the past is what prevented you from regaining control when you wanted. The Jedi seem to live with the more pleasant emotions, suppressing the ones they categorize as 'dark.' It is only natural that you would be unable to control what you are not accustomed to feeling." The Chancellor smiled at the young General, "Give it time my boy, and don't turn away from your feelings. Your emotions are what make you Human, Anakin, trust in them and you will be a great Jedi."

Smiling for the first time in what felt like days, Anakin met his mentor's gaze, "Thank you, Excellency." Remembering that the Council would be informing the Chancellor of what he had just told he suddenly felt very nervous, "Chancellor, I…"

His nervousness must have shown to the Republic Head of State for he merely smiled and said, "I've told you before Anakin, what you say to me, stays with me. I will not tell anyone else. I leave that task to you, should you so choose."

Anakin said his thanks once more, the Chancellor was silent for a moment before saying, "We can speak more of this later Anakin, but right now I need you to focus on discovering the identity of this informant. This turncoat could threaten the Republic."

"I will not fail you Chancellor." The Jedi spoke, a fierce determination glinting in his eyes.

"I know you won't Anakin," The Chancellor said with another smile, his holographic form vanishing once the connection was broken.

Feeling better about his actions now, Anakin took both of his mentor's separate advice, acknowledging and coming to terms with what he had done on Crato, but pushing it to the back of his mind so that he could concentrate on the investigation. A quick conversation with the Admiral to tell him that he was done with the COM room and a query as to how long it would take the fleet to reach its destination let him know that their task force would be in the Kiflor system in four days.

Anakin retreated to his quarters where he quickly fell asleep.

Three of the four days to the fleet's destination passed fairly quickly to the Republic General. He spent most of his time in his quarters, mediating and conducting research on the Kiflor system, only emerging to eat, obtain status reports from Admiral Yularen and Captain Rex, and continue Ashoka's training. Now, on the last day through hyperspace, his padawan sat in her quarters with an eager expression on her face as she listened to her Master's lesson. "Since our investigations are going to be stealth operations," Anakin shot a mock-glare at his apprentice when she let out a groan, "It's time you learned how to use the Force to conceal yourself from others."

Ashoka brightened up at his last statement, "I can use the Force to hide from others?"

"Yes," The reluctant mentor replied with a small smile at her enthusiasm, "But take heed, such a power will not conceal you from other Force Sensitives. So don't even think about trying to surprise me."

Ashoka adopted an innocent looking expression that Anakin might have actually believed sincere if he didn't know her as well as he did. "Master, I would never even think of such a thing."

"Of course not," A smile touched his lips once more before he continued, "Don't be frustrated if you can not achieve this right away. Stealth is a concept I do not particularly enjoy, but it is an obvious tool we will need to use once we arrive at our destination." The Jedi Knight paused in order to move to the far side of the room, "First, do you remember how to do meditation?" At her eager nod he proceeded, "Good, then slip into a trance."

Ashoka complied, feeling the Force flow through her body as she used it to help rejuvenate her mind. Faintly she could hear her Master's voice, "Good, now stretch out. Expand your senses and listen to your breathing, use the Force to see the sound waves."

The young Togruta tried to do as she was told, attempting to enhance her sight to follow her master's command. She had been trying for several minutes, without even the slightest hint of progress. Despite her Master's precaution, her frustration was starting to mount. She was considering giving up and asking for further explanation when she felt an echoing sense of calm, as if it were coming from a great distance. Deciding it would help her situation, the apprentice reached out and drew on the feeling, bringing it to the forefront of her mind.

Her frustration faded away and, with its disappearance, progress was made. Ashoka could detect faint ripples emanating from her body with every breath in and out. Feeling immensely proud of herself she said, "I can see it Master."

"Excellent Ashoka, now go further. Use the Force to direct you to a different spectrum, see what your body emits to the world."

The padawan would be lying if she said she understood what her Master meant by his last phrase, but she decided to take his words at face value and simply act. Understanding would come later. Relying on her new sense of calm, Ashoka was able to do as her Master requested, after twenty minutes of failed attempts. In addition to being able to perceive sound waves, the young Togruta could now see into the different spectrums. Ultraviolet, thermal, and electromagnetic were just a few of the many spectrums the apprentice could see, each one was represented by a different colour.

"I've done it Master," Ashoka spoke absently as she continued to gaze at one of the many marvels the Force allowed her to bear witness too, "There are so many."

"Good Ashoka, very good. Now, for the hard part, all of the spectrums and sound waves must be shifted if you are to be hidden. Stretch out and use the Force to contain the spectrums and auditory waves."

The apprentice thought about how to proceed for a couple of minutes before she tried an aggressive approach. She concentrated on forcibly dragging the spectrums and waves towards her. It didn't take long for her to tire, and she almost scowled when she realized that her target hadn't even twitched in her direction. The slightly irked padawan had no doubt that her Master was smiling as he said, "Don't be too aggressive Snips, coax them towards you. Envision your power as a black hole, its pull strong enough to draw in your targets."

Ashoka considered how to place a practical application to the analogy. A few minutes passed before the Togruta decided to draw more on the Force and harness more of its infinite energy. Slowly, as the apprentice gathered more energy, the spectrum rings and auditory waves moved towards her. When Ashoka harnessed as much energy as she could withstand, she was pleased to discover that she couldn't see any of the visible manifestations the Force had allowed her to associate with the light spectrums and sound waves.

"Exceptional work Ashoka. You may have noticed that the spectrums and waves will fight to escape." At his padawan's weary acknowledgement the General continued, "To prevent such an event, you will need to contain them within you. Picture a detention cell forming around your collected manifestations." Anakin waited until Ashoka told him she had done it, "Good, now, picture a force field preventing an escape. Instead of the barrier being powered by technological means, infuse it with a small amount of your harnessed Force energy."

With Ashoka's confirmation, Anakin grinned and told her that she was done. Surprised, the young Togruta opened her eyes, expecting to have an invisible form. She was disappointed to find that she could still see herself. Sensing her mood, Anakin assured her that the user would still be able to see their individual form. "This ability allows you to move undetected by all sentients, creatures, droids, and scanners."

"Will I be able to still draw on the Force if I'm constantly using it to maintain this?" These were the words Ashoka attempted to speak, but no sound was forthcoming.

The padawan was about to ask again when she remembered that she had contained her auditory waves within herself. Releasing her hold on the contained spectrums and waves, Ashoka's body slowly faded back into focus to the outside world. She saw her Master was now fixing her with a grin, "Good control Ashoka, nice work."

Ashoka acknowledged the praise with a smile of her own, her eyes lighting up with happiness. "I was trying to ask you if it is still possible to draw on the Force while using this ability Master. Can I still use my lightsaber and perform Force jumps or pushes?"

"Using your lightsaber would be unwise as it would give away your position. You will still be able to draw on the Force for other techniques. You should note they will not be at optimal strength while performing a Force cloak."

Using a lightsaber was one of the core advantages of being a Jedi, Ashoka found it frustrating to know that she would be unable to draw her weapon while using such a power. Wondering why Force cloak would be invented if it left its user unable to attack, Ashoka said, "But then why use this power?"

Anakin smiled at her, "Because it is impossible to fight…" The General's voice faded away, his body quickly following, as it disappeared from his padawan's view. He stayed like that for a few seconds before reappearing just as quickly, "What you cannot see," The Jedi finished with a smug grin.

Part of the accomplishment Ashoka felt from performing her new ability faded away as she gazed with envy at how easily her Master was able to do what took her a good half hour to accomplish. Anakin had started to leave his apprentice's chambers when he felt what seemed like a sense of jealousy from his padawan. Mentally sighing at how prideful his padawan was with her abilities, Anakin turned to face her. "Ashoka, your progress has been astounding. You've already exceeded my expectations; I did not expect you to learn it so quickly. All you have to do now is perfect it." When his padawan brightened up once more the Jedi continued, "Now, I need to speak with Captain Rex and the Admiral, keep working on this Ashoka. I'll check on your progress in two hours."

Departing once he received acknowledgement from his apprentice, the Jedi Knight moved to the bridge of his flagship. Commander Praxton and Admiral Yularen were moving about the _Resolute's_ command centre, checking tactical maps of their destination and requesting updates from officers and crewers on both the flagship and the rest of the fleet. General Skywalker caught up with the Admiral as he started to move away from the communications officer. "Admiral, what's our E.T.A to Kiflor."

"Six hours until we're in-system General."

"Very well," Anakin said, turning to leave as quickly as he came, "I'll return soon."

With a nod of understanding from the Admiral, Anakin headed to where Captain Rex and his team would be waiting for him by now, the briefing room. The Jedi Knight arrived to see the clone officer in question along with Lieutenant Marks, Sergeant Bombard, Bypass, and another who had been introduced as Master Corporal Cove; all of them patiently waiting for the General to unveil his strategy for the impending investigation. Anakin keyed for a representation of the Kiflor system by the room's holo-projector. A large star shrouded over a planet with three moons. Knowing that he already had the squad's attention, the Jedi pointed to the planetoid, "Luckily there's only one inhabited planet in this sector, Tyfex."

The General paused, pressing another button that showed a close-up of the world in question. "It's a fairly well urbanized Separatist controlled world. While the cities are large, they're separated by large areas of forest. We're going to be using that to our advantage. Our target is the capital city, Tharen. Ashoka and myself will scout ahead to locate the Separatist communications facility. Once it had been located, we move in quietly, get what we need, and get out. Any questions?"

"Sir," Captain Rex said as he turned from the holos to study his commanding officer, "How exactly are we going to make it to the surface in one piece?"

"Assuming the Separatist fleet is outnumbered, we wait until the fleet disables any ships before departing. If not, then we wait for the fleet to divert the attention of our enemy while we slip through the chaos and land on Tyfex."

"Understood sir," The clone officer responded.

Anakin waited for more questions to be posed, but when none were forthcoming he simply nodded, letting Captain Rex take over. "Alright squad, you have five hours before we jump in-system, get your suits camed up in woodland pattern, get some rest, then report to the assault shuttle stationed in the dorsal hangar bay. Dismissed."

The appointed squad members nodded, filing out of the room to their respective barracks to obey their orders. Captain Rex gave a salute to the General before following. The Jedi watched them go before deciding to check on his padawan's progress a little ahead of schedule.

"This mission sounds like an easy breather if you ask me," Master Corporal Cove said to the rest of the squad. The five clones had moved to an empty barracks room together, deciding to get ready for the mission at the same time. Cove was beginning the tedious process of camouflaging his armour to a pattern that would blend in with the vegetation usually found on Tyfex. Captain Rex had told the others to model theirs after Cove's, since he was considered the best in the unit for stealth operations.

"Easy breather?" Marks asked with disbelief as he began selecting weapons for the operation, "We're going to be camped out right inside Separatist territory, possibly for days, and you think that's going to be fine."

"Congratulations Marks," Cove said with a smirk as he started applying the first brown and green tint layer to his armour, "You have successfully explained what I just said."

"You're unbelievable Cove," Marks said while inspecting a DC-15A rifle from his personal weapons inventory.

"One thing I'd like to know," Bypass began, testing the balance of a small vibroblade, "Is why Bombard is coming with us."

The Sergeant in question looked up from cleaning his DC-15S carbine with narrowed eyes, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Bypass adopted a smirk of his own, "Come on, even you have to admit its strange we're taking you on a stealth operation."

"Aside from the obvious association with his namesake," Cove said before Bombard could respond, "Why's that?"

"Well that's just it," Bypass began over the Sergeant's protests, "He earned that name during his first stealth operation. His team was sent to disable the sensors on a Sep outpost to allow the main unit to move undetected to the primary objective. Suffice it to say that the mission didn't go exactly as planned, and they ended up having to fight their way back through a bunch of clankers. Bombard, here, felt it would be prudent to call in a bombing run to hit the droids pursuing them." The slicer laughed as he sheathed his chosen vibroblade, "I still don't know how he convinced the squadron commander."

"He owed me a favour," Bombard replied with a shrug. "Commander was a little irked when we came back," The Sergeant continued with a grin, "Personally, I think he was just jealous that he didn't come up with the idea himself."

The whole squad shared a laugh at that. They continued to make idle conversation until everyone's gear was prepped for the operation. Cove and Bypass decided to visit the mess to get their last sample of real food before they hit planet-side while the remainder settled back to catch up on some much needed rest.

Anakin moved back to the bridge, his padawan at his side. The Jedi Knight had been pleasantly pleased when he had returned to check on his apprentice's progress. He had spent four hours helping Ashoka hone her skills. Now, the young Togruta was fairly adept at performing a Force cloak. Even though she would still need to practice it more before she could perfect it. For now, Ashoka was able to cloak herself under ten seconds, though she confessed that she could only maintain it for five minutes before she became too tired. The General had assured her that it was still very good progress, and it would be more than enough to assist her in their investigation.

Stepping on his flagship's command centre, Anakin was quick to track down Admiral Yularen. It took ten minutes for the Republic General to go-over his insertion plan to the naval officer. "Well then sir," The Admiral paused to consult with his navigation officer, "We have an hour before we move in-system."

"I'll await your signal in the hangar Admiral."

"Yes sir," Admiral Yularen responded, turning back to the gaze out of the _Resolute's_ viewport as the Republic General moved to link up with his squad.

Ten minutes later, Master and Padawan stepped out of a lift and into hangar 2B. A Nu-class attack shuttle was the first thing to greet Anakin's gaze. The folded-wing designed troop transport was a supplement to the LAAT gunship. Its offensive capabilities were limited to forward mounted medium and light laser cannons, but its defensive enhancements, the most notable of which being a shield generator and upgraded armoured hull, compensated for its lack of firepower. Seeing five clones with camouflaged armour by the shuttle, the Jedi headed to his waiting squad.

Captain Rex called the others to attention once he spotted their mission leaders heading toward them. The squad snapped to attention while Rex directed a salute to the General. Anakin simply offered a slight bow once he was close enough and, after telling the soldiers to stand at ease, asked if they were ready to go.

"Yes, sir." Captain Rex answered, "All our gear is already on board, now we just have to wait for the all clear."

_Yes_, Anakin thought to himself bitterly as he watched the mechanics perform last minute check-ups on the fighters, _now we wait_.

"Time to destination?" Admiral Yularen asked as he stood to the side of his navigation officer.

"Ten minutes remaining sir," The clone officer responded after a quick glance at his display screen.

Turning to the console by his communication operator, the Admiral decided it was time to alert the fleet. A quick press of a button was all it took to activate the cruiser's internal COM system. "This is Admiral Yularen, we are ten minutes away from our destination. All pilots to your ships and await deployment. Gunnery crewers, standby." Ending the transmission, the Admiral turned to the COM operator, "Alert the rest of the fleet."

"Yes, sir."

CT-3426, more commonly know to his squad mates by his call-sign, Vibro Six-Two, had quickly reacted to the Admiral's warning and was now leading his squadron to hangar 2C on the dorsal section of the _Resolute_. It was a tight squeeze to fit the twenty-five pilots into the _Resolute's_ lift, but no-one complained as it rapidly ascended to their destination. As soon as the doors parted to the hangar holding the majority of their ships, the pilots moved off to their respective craft.

Six Two quickly strapped hismelf into the cockpit of his ARC-170 fighter, positioned at the head of the formation. The clone looked at his customized phase I helmet, the side of which featured a miniature red painted 170 armed with giant vibroblades that were stabbing two droid starfighters. He smiled at his artwork before donning the helmet and checking his craft's systems.

A minute later let Six Two know that everything was good on his end. He switched on a private COM to his rear gunner, "Everything good back there Sharpe?"

"Affirmative Drex, green lights across the board."

"Alright Vibro Squadron," Drex said as he created an open COM to his group, "Let's get the boring stuff out of the way, check-in."

"Six-Three here lead, all systems go."

"Six-Four checking in, good to fly."

"Six-Five, weapons primed and standing by."

Drex laughed silently to himself at Six Five's eagerness for dog-fights. He was, arguably, the best pilot in the squadron.

"Six-Eight here Two," Drex heard after he had pulled himself back to reality, "All systems check out."

"Six-Nine, I am incredibly fine and my fighter's systems are greener than a raw recruit."

The COM was instantly filled with laughter from the rest of the squadron, Six-Nine had habit of calling in with such phrases. Even though everyone knew that Six-Two didn't have a problem with it, appearances had to be maintained. "Six-Nine can't you just check in like a normal pilot?"

"Sorry Six-Two," Six-Nine said, though he was clearly not, "Won't happen again sir."

Drex chuckled at that, "You're a terrible liar Six-Nine. Resume check-in."

The rest of the squadron announced the condition of their fighters, Drex was pleased to note that all of their 170s were functioning properly. As soon as the last pilot, Six-Thirteen, checked in. Drex settled back in his fighter to wait for the go ahead to launch.

While other squadrons found it strange that Vibro Squadron had the number six in front of every squadmate's call-sign, Drex understood the reasoning for it. The number stood for the fact that this was now the sixth time that Vibro Squadron had recovered from a major loss. After the original squad leader and the majority of the pilots had been killed on a mission, the successive commander decided to add the number two in front of the call-sign of the replacement pilots. Now that the squadron had reached the number six, it showed just how much action the elite group had seen in the Clone Wars. Drex had taken a liking to the idea as soon as it had been explained to him; not only did it honour those who had already died, but it gave the impression that Vibro Squadron was immortal.

_If only that were true_, Drex thought with a sad smile.

"Admiral, we're exiting hyperspace in thirty seconds." The _Resolute's_ navigation officer called from the port crew pit.

"Understood," Yularen responded without shifting his gaze from the familiar blue scenery of interstellar propulsion.

Wullf Yularen was a patient man. Even in the heat of battle he often maintained his calm. Moving _into_ a battle, however, was a different thing entirely. The seasoned officer knew this was how most soldiers felt prior to an engagement, a type of jittery anticipation that was enough to set any warrior on edge. It took a special kind of courage to push forward when your very senses urged you to pull back.

"Ten seconds, sir." The navigation officer reported as he began the countdown.

The Admiral took a deep breath to try and keep a sense of balance within himself, despite the fact that he knew it was pointless. Sometimes he wondered whether he would willingly push forward if he didn't know that his jittery feeling would instantly be dispelled once the battle begun.

"Dropping out in three…two…one."

At the end of the officer's speech, Yularen watched as the hyperspace funnel surrounding the Republic fleet instantly faded away. The star-lines quick followed, the silver streaks resolving into distant glowing orbs. A large star and planetoid were some of the first objects to grab the officer's attention. The star was what gave the system its name, the first explorers having christened their finding as 'Kiflor.' Several million kilometres distant from the fiercely glowing blue star was Tyfex, its surface a mixture of green, blue and, gray. The majority of the planet was coated in gray spots, giving testament to the level of the planet's urbanization rate. Small patches of blue and green were still fairly abundant on the surface; such spots marked the locations of the remaining forests and large bodies of water.

Despite the beauty such sights exhibited, Admiral Yularen's attention was first concentrated on the three Munificent frigates positioned in a high orbit above the planet. The _Resolute's_ commanding officer breathed a sigh of relief; such numbers were standard security for Separatist worlds not considered to be important to the war effort. "Move the fleet into a wedge formation, with the _Arrestor_ and _Pinnacle_ on the ends." The Admiral said, his order directed toward both his communications and navigation officer. He paused to watch the frigates break their patrol movements and form a standard battle line, "We'll accelerate forward and then encompass our enemy from three sides."

"Message away sir," The COM operator replied after a short pause, "Captains Navaro and Tersu have acknowledged and are moving their ships into position."

The navigation officer waited for the COM officer to report that the rest of the fleet was in position before following his orders. "Engines operating at one hundred percent capacity, heading on a direct line to the frigates."

"Time to entering weapons range?" The Admiral queried.

"At present speed, four minutes sir."

"Very good," The Admiral replied to his navigation officer. "Give our fighters the green light but order them to stay close," Yularen said as he turned to his second in command.

"Right away sir," Praxton responded as he made his way over to a nearby console.

"Commander Praxton to all squadrons, you are go for launch, but stick close to the cruisers." The statement was directed to all the squadron leaders.

Drex was among the first to acknowledge the order. "Alright Vibro Squadron, we've been issued a green light. Form up on me."

Six-Two quickly powered up the engines of his ARC-170 and moved out of hangar 2C, his squadron close behind. Emerging out of the Resolute, Drex could see three Munificent frigates formed up in a line, their engines off-line as they simply held their position. He cast a simple glance at Tyfex and its distant star, for no other reason than to get an understanding of the surroundings. One of the first lessons imparted to every clone had been to always be aware of the surroundings environment.

"Beauty is irrelevant," The Mandalorian instructors were so fond of saying, "As a pilot when you study a nebula or planetary tree-line, it's not to admire its colour, but to consider how to use such vistas for a tactical advantage."

Just as he'd been taught, Drex didn't spare the two objects a second glance once he realized that his squadron was in open space. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the droid ships and mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Their formation would be effective if their side had superior firepower, but with the Republic outnumbering the CIS, the droids would only be delaying the inevitable. From that information alone, it was easy for Drex to conclude that the Munificent frigates were under the control of standard pilot droids and not a tactical droid or sentient commander. If that wasn't enough, the last clue was given once the Munificents started to launch their fighters. Deploying Vulture droids was a tactic typical to the Confederacy, swarms of the expendable craft would assault both fighter squadrons and Republic cruisers in an attempt to create chaos in clone lines, while their ships hammered at the Republic from afar.

Six-Two led his squadron six hundred metres in front of the _Resolute_, not a large distance by any standard, but enough to ensure that Vibro Squadron would be able to intercept the now approaching Vulture droids before they could inflict any damage on the Venator flagship. "Looks like a good hundred droids out there Drex," Sharpe said over the personal COM the two pilots shared within their fighter.

"I seem them Sharpe, get ready with the aft turrets, we'll probably have a few tailers."

"I'm always ready," Sharpe replied in a feigned hurt voice, as if he would be anything but.

Drex grinned beneath his helmet at Sharpe's tone before switching to his squadron's frequency, "Vibro, lock s-foils in attack position and prepare to separate into a trihectal attack profile. You know the drill."

A chorus of acknowledgements answered the leader's order. Scant seconds later, the squadron had reformed into three distinct groups with four ARC-170s in two groups. With Vibro Six-Thirteen being the odd man out, he joined the last group to give it a complement of five. By then the Vulture droids were within range and, at Six-Two's command, the squadron linked to their temporary group leaders and moved to engage the enemy fighters.

Green and red laser blasts erupted in the blackness of space as the squadrons charged at one another. Shields flared and hulls were scorched as the two combatants entered a massive dogfight. The unshielded droid fighters could easily be destroyed with a few shots, though the tracking of such small and nimble craft was a difficult task. The veteran pilots of Vibro Squadron, however, had developed ways to overcome such problems.

Dividing the squadron into three separate groups allowed each profile to form a diamond formation. The group leader would be flanked by two other fighters in the front, with another in the rear; this gave the formation six laser canons in the front and six in the back. Such a configuration ensured maximum destruction from the rapidly moving 170 fighters.

Vulture droids were known for many things, but intelligence wasn't one of them. Their programming demanded that they engage any hostile force. So when Vibro Squadron opened fire, the a large percentage of the droid fighters instantly broke off from their run toward the approaching Republic fleet and engaged the lone squadron, just as Vibro Six-Two had planned.

"Six-Five, you have four fighters on your tail!" Six-Seven's frantic shout filled the squadron's COM.

"I know," Six-Five responded in a surprisingly calm tone, "I've got it, breaking formation."

Group two quickly changed into a triangular pattern as Six-Five rolled out of the previously held diamond profile. While Six-Five's rear gunner swore at the pursuing droids, the ARC pilot smirked and told his gunner to hang on. A quick rerouting of power to the fighter's engines allowed Six-Five to pull his craft in a sharp turn on a 180 degree angle. Within seconds, his ship's forward cannons were now fixed on his would be pursuers. A few successive blasts later, and the Vultures had been reduced to debris.

"Great shooting Six-Five!" Six-Seven spoke in awe at what he had managed to catch a brief glimpse of.

Any response from the pilot in question was cut off by Six-Seven, "Watch your vectors group three, three vultures incoming at two mark three five."

"Copy," Six-Nine, three's group leader said. "Sixes Twelve and Thirteen, move in."

"Got it," Six-Twelve responded for the two.

The two rear fighters moved away from their respective group, their starfighters pulling up and reforming side by side. The clone pilots fired first, with the droid starfighters answering in kind a micro second later. A few of the stray bolts impacted into each other, creating small shockwaves that were enough to shake up the fighters close enough to feel the effects. The Vultures were able to score a few hits, but the bolts were absorbed by the ARC deflectors, making the protective blue fields flare for a moment. Several bursts of laser fire later and the two pilots had succeeded in destroying their targets.

Six-Twelve and Six-Thirteen didn't stop to feel the satisfaction of more kills; they simply manoeuvred their fighters on a course taking them back to group three. They were catching up to their squadron when a squad member's urgent shout let them know that they had picked up a few followers. Trying to split the numbers of their attackers, the two pilots moved away in opposite directions.

Risking a glance at his scanner board, Six-Twelve found that he had four Vultures in pursuit. He moved his ARC-170 into sharp dives, rolls, and turns that, while successful in preventing his craft from getting hit, also had the side-effect of throwing off his gunner's aim. "Hold her steady for a few seconds Riko," His gunner demanded, "Otherwise we'll be playing games all day."

Conceding to the logic, Six-Twelve reluctantly followed his gunner's advice. Dual laser blasts discharged from the stern section of the 170, moving closer to their targets with every shot.

"R5, open fire!" Six-Thirteen shouted as he quickly manoeuvred his fighter into a port roll.

Red laser bolts were close enough that the pilot could see them streaking past the cockpit. Judging from their position he guessed that the shots had been fired in between the 170's s-foils and the wings themselves. _Too close_, Six-Thirteen thought with a grunt as he forced his fighter into another sharp dive. The Vultures seemed able to seamlessly follow his movements. Even with all the tricks he'd developed in his many engagements, the five droid starfighters were still maintaining the same distance.

Opening his COM in desperation, Six-Thirteen said, "Vibro, I've got five Vultures on my tail, I can't shake them!"

"I hear you Mador," Six-Eight responded. "Standby, I'm moving to you."

"Make it fast Flash," Six-Thirteen said as he performed another series of manoeuvres, "This isn't my favourite scenario."

"You might not be in this situation if you had requested for a replacement gunner," Flash replied dryly.

Even though he knew Six-Eight didn't mean it, hearing things like that reminded him of the fact that he had lost his gunner, Kel, to a stray laser cannon blast from a Munificent frigate a few weeks ago. The anti-starfighter bolt had pierced through his ARC's rear deflector and had skimmed the transparisteel window of the stern cockpit, shattering the class and propelling Kel into space. Despite the fact that Mador had been trained to acknowledge the loss of his brethren and move on, the death of a squadmate always hit him hard. The fact that Kel had died due to his piloting was what made him deny his squadron's urges for him to request a replacement gunner. He had, instead, installed an astromech socket in the secondary cockpit's place and tied in the rear gunner controls to R5. It was obvious that the others didn't approve of his decision, but they did respect it.

Mador snapped himself out of his musings when his ship shook from two direct hits, taking his deflector strength down to a low twenty percent. A few more hits would be all it would take for his craft to become just another piece of battle debris. _Where are you Flash?_ Six-Thirteen thought with barley restrained curse words. He was moving his fighter so much that he didn't realize that he was angling directly on a course he would soon regret plotting.

When a few laser blasts struck two of the Vultures behind him, Mador was in the process of congratulating R5 when he saw Flash dart past his fighter. Six-Eight was already swivelling for another attack run. Two of the Vultures decided to challenge their aggressor, making Six-Thirteen breath a sigh of relief as they broke off their chase. "R5," Mador spoke in a challenging tone, "If you can't take out this last fighter, I might just have to consider getting a new astromech."

A flurry of alarmed beeps and whistles answered his statement, the translation module in the cockpit was instantly scrolling with Basic characters, the general idea being that R5 considered himself the best and that there was no better droid. Mador smirked at his astromech's response, he never had any intention of going through with his idle threats, but the small droid had no way of knowing that.

A few quick bursts from the ARC's aft weapons got Six-Thirteen's attention. He watched his scanner in anticipation, expecting to see the droid starfighter signature disappear. When he realized that his droid must've missed, Mador had just enough time to turn his craft into a tight turn before the pursuing Vulture could score another hit. Mid-turn green bolts discharged from Mador's ARC-170 and struck the lone droid starfighter, the force behind the impact enough to rip the small vessel apart. Mador smiled beneath his helmet once his droid twittered happily, the translation module letting him know that his astromech was gloating.

"Mador!" Six-Eight's frantic yell erupted on the COM, "Get out of there!"

Six-Thirteen finally looked away from his ship's scanners and looked up to see something that made his eyes widen, His erratic manoeuvres had taken him far off course from Vibro Squadron, that much had been clear to the pilot, but he couldn't believe his eyes at how far he had actually gone. Mador was no less than a kilometre away from one of the Munificent frigates.

Battle honed instincts kicked in and the thirteenth pilot of Vibro Squadron sent his craft on a rapid sequence of evasive manoeuvres. Mador knew it was hopeless though, even as he rolled and turned. The droid frigate's forward anti-starfighter batteries opened fire scant seconds later, sending hundreds of laser bolts toward the Republic craft. Mador' last thought was at the irony of surviving a massive dog-fight with at least fifty Vultures, only to be destroyed by a frigate.

Flash slammed his fist down on his pilot seat to try and vent some of his frustration as he helplessly watched Six-Thirteen die through the transparisteel windows of his cockpit. Even though Flash felt he was out of range of the frigate's batteries, the clone pilot felt it was best not to test that theory as he silently turned his fighter and headed back to Vibro's previous position. Moving closer, Six-Eight could see that the three groups were mopping up what was left of the Vulture squadrons. V-19 squadrons were now lending a hand, having finished destroying the rest of the CIS fighters.

By the time Flash had reached Vibro, there were no more active targets. "Wait, were missing someone," Drex said after his squadron reformed back to a single unit. "Where's Morad?"

"Dead sir," Flash answered heavily, "He was so intent on shaking a pursuing Vulture that he moved too close to a droid frigate."

The squadron COM was silent for several seconds after Six-Eight's announcement. It was not as a sign of mourning, since Vibro knew they couldn't dwell on their loss in the heat of battle. It was, instead, from the shock of losing a squadmate at all. While every clone knew that death could come for them in any hostile engagement, it was natural to assume, and even acknowledge that you, yourself, would die. No-one ever prepared themselves for the loss of a squadmate.

Pushing Morad's death to the back of his mind, Drex felt a new drive within him to make sure the rest of his squadron lived to see the end of this battle. A quick thanks were sent to the V-19 squadron leaders while Six-Two took another glance at the scanner. Having ensured no-more enemy starfighters were around, active or incoming, Drex looked to see the Republic fleet's position. A tight grin formed on his face once he saw the Venators and Acclamators encompass the droid frigates.

A tidal wave of blue bolts erupted from the Republic fleet the moment they were in range. Six-Two gazed at the scene, feeling as though maybe he could relax and just watch the fireworks, instead of moving into the heart of enemy battle lines. A rapid beeping emitting from Drex's scanners was the only warning the clone pilot had before four new Separatist contacts jumped in-system. Three had the distinctive ring carrier design of the Lucrehulk-class control ship, while the fourth was of a design the pilot had never seen before.

The battleship looked to be comprised of two cylindrical sections, while the bow ended with a pointed edge, it expanded into a barrel-like design. A more bulbous section had been fitted where the hangars were placed, clearly giving the vessel a carrier role. A towering spire was the most distinctive feature on the carrier, it rose from the craft just shy of the engines, making its function clear to be that of an observation platform.

Further analysis was cut short as the new fleet opened fire as quickly as it had appeared. With the Republic surrounding the Munificents, two of the control ships had jumped into a positioning outside either end of the Republic formation. Their quad turbolaser cannons were already bombarding their targets. Thousands of flashes erupted in space as both the CIS and Republic fired on each other at point blank range.

The Lucrehulk's massive complement of fighters was already launching, hundreds of Vultures filled the blackness of space. Drex felt a rising tide of panic, but he took a deep breath to settle himself. "Stand fast Vibro, their just moving to the slaughter. All wings, follow my lead. Look sharp, we're going in."

Vibro Squadron never broke formation with their commander, despite the fact that he was leading them into the heart of a starfighter storm and, likely, their deaths.

-

General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Confederacy, hated Jedi. It was a hatred so intense and vibrant that only the Sith could hope to match it. The cyborg General could remember pieces of his life before his transformation. He remembered his life as a Kaleesh warlord, but it was only when Grievous dreamed that he was reminded _why_ he had held such a title. Images of insectile creatures, who called themselves the Yam'rii, though his people had christened them as Huk, invading his planet in an attempt to subdue it and scenes of Grievous himself with a slug-thrower rifle, racking up kill after kill in the Huk War, were the most prominent. Eventually the cyborg was reminded that just when his people had driven off the invaders to their own planet and were in the process of exterminating them, the Huk appealed to the Republic for assistance.

Jedi Knights, the so-called peace keepers of the galaxy, sided with a species well known for aggressive expansion. The Jedi pushed the Kaleesh back to their homeworld, where the Republic forced trade sanctions, leaving their trade routes devastated and their economy shattered. Kalee reached an unimaginable poverty line soon after, hundreds of thousands starved.

When Grievous awoke, so too did a deeper level of anger. His better resentment of the Jedi would intensify with the reminder that many of his people had effectively been killed by the galaxy's 'protectors.' The cyborg would see to the devastation of the entire Jedi Order, his hatred demanded nothing less.

"General?"

The COM query from his vessel's commander snapped Grevious out of his reverie. He rose out of his chair from his command ship's observation platform and touched a key on a nearby console, "What is it Captain?"

The disturbance would have annoyed the General if it weren't coming from his Neimoidian commander on the bridge. While the majority of their species disgusted the General, Nute Gunray in particular, Captain Lushros Dofine was different. He had exhibited decisive initiative during the final hours of the Battle at Geonosis, enough to allow more of their forces to evacuate in his Lucrehulk-class carrier core.

When the cyborg had lost the _Malevolence_, he had been given the _Invisible Hand_ as a replacement. Nute Gunray had been forced to hand it over, much to Grievous' glee, though he did impose restrictions; he had demanded that the ship be crewed by Neimoidians. Count Dooku, being the mediator he was, had allowed Gunray to proceed, and so Grievous had requested Captain Dofine as the ship's bridge commander. But this worked in the favour of both parties, Grievous could now leave the bridge with confidence that it was not in the hands of incompetent battle droid commanders.

"We are receiving a signal from our fleet in the Kiflor system, just as you had anticipated." Captain Dofine's voice filtered through the COM.

"Good, is my battlegroup ready?"

"Yes General, all three Lucrehulk carriers are in the arranged formation and report ready."

"Excellent, proceed to Kiflor Captain and ensure that all fighters are ready for launch. I'll join you in a moment."

"As you wish," Dofine replied, the COM cutting out after he had finished his speech.

The former Kaleesh warlord strode out of the towering spire of his Providence-class carrier, two of his IG-100 MagnaGuards wordlessly taking up flanking positions beside him as Grievous entered a lift. The two combat droids were both fitted with Kaleesh inspired cloaks that his Izvoshra had worn when he was still an organic being. Initially, Grievous had only chosen eight of his best to wear the cloak, but now that the tales of his MangaGuards had spread, the cyborg had deemed it prudent to start fitting every IG 100 with a cloak in order to inspire fear in those who would face them.

Once the descending lift had come to a halt, Grievous wasted no time in moving through the corridor to the bridge. As soon as the blast door to the bridge slid open, his MagnaGuards broke off their escort to flank the entrance to the ship's command room. The cyborg continued forward, stopping only when he was beside Captain Dofine. The Neimoidian was seated in the vessel's command chair, is gaze fixated on the transparisteel windows as the small Separatist fleet jumped to hyperspace. He looked at the General as he moved up beside him and offered him a nod in greeting, "General, all ships and fighter squadrons are standing by. The flagship is at your command."

"Good," Grievous drawled, his vocabulator emitting what small sense of satisfaction it could at his tone. He turned to the flagship's navigation droid, "Time to arrival?"

"Four minutes General," The droid responded after a quick check of his console.

Grievous nodded to himself, even the incompetent droids he'd left in charge of his three Munificent frigates should be able to keep their task force intact until then. Thoughts of droid commanders made the former Kaleesh warlord glance at the crewers of his bridge crew. While the majority were still Neimoidian, there were a few battle droids that had taken the place of the green skinned traders. Grievous had dispatched quite a few of Gunray's original bridge crew, either for gross incompetence or questioning of simple orders. A ripple of satisfaction coursed through the General at his thoughts, he liked to imagine that the incompetent Neimoidian crewers were Nute Gunray himself when he slaughtered them.

The single fact that the Neimoidian was a member of the Separatist council, and key to holding the Trade Federation's support in the Separatist cause, was the only thing preventing the General from killing the cowardly creature. As far as Grievous was concerned, however, it just provided him with another incentive to win the war. Once the Trade Federation leader's use was at an end, he couldn't imagine Count Dooku or Darth Sidious preventing him from ensuring Gunray's end.

The once organic life form forced down his musings when his navigation droid reported their transition to normal space would be in thirty seconds. Grievous didn't have to wait long before the streaking lines outside the ship phased back into distant stars. A small growl escaped Grievous' vocabulator once he saw that the Republic fleet had managed to get within weapons range before he could arrive. Still it was clear, based on the fact that all three frigates were still operational, that the bombardment had barley begun.

Not being one to waste time Grievous' electronic voice filtered through the bridge of his ship, "Signal the fleet, the Republic cruisers are the priority targets, then lock forward cannons on the closest cruiser." The General paused until his droids reported ready. "Fire!"

Red fire lanced across space, the energy bolts tore through the closest attack cruiser, its starboard side exposed as it tried to turn away from the approaching onslaught. While their half-circle formation would have been far too effective against three frigates, it left them completely vulnerable to the Separatist reinforcements. Grievous let out a laugh as he watched the Republic ships try to perform evasive manoeuvres. Such a tight formation gave them no quarter. They could do nothing but burn.

"Launch all fighters. I want every Republic squadron destroyed."

"Roger, Roger," A droid droned as it relayed the General's commands.

-

There was so much COM chatter within the fleet that open channels were completely useless, they were filled with an influx of queries, status reports, and warnings. Even private COM channels within squadrons were filled with enough voices that it was hard to decipher what any one person was saying. Drex was learning that for himself as he tried to keep up with his squadron's transmissions.

"Left of arc….."

"Keep it loose….."

"….Six-Four watch your…."

_I hope the Admiral can get his ships out of this mess_, Drex thought, risking a glance to see hundreds of flashes against the hulls of the mighty Venators. Their shields had long since failed; even the armour plating looked to be stripping away. A series of red flashes streaked past his cockpit, reminding Drex that he was in the middle of a battle and couldn't afford distractions. With a grunt he pushed his worries about the fleet aside. Right now, his sole concern was keeping his squadron intact. So far, they had only sustained damage, no casualties. But with the amount of Vultures in pursuit, Drex knew it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

-

"Damage report!" Yularen barked, getting himself off the floor after the first blast had knocked him, and several others, off the deck.

"Shields are down, armour plating is starting to buckle! We can't take much more of this!" Commander Praxton shouted from across the bridge as he glanced at the ship display panel.

"What's our position relative to that Providence-class carrier?"

"Its off our starboard Admiral."

"Very well then, give the order for the retreat. Randomize jump for three light years, we can't afford to be followed. I want all starboard batteries firing on that cruiser while we angle the ship for lightspeed."

The navigation officer sent his acknowledgements but the gunnery officer on the starboard crew pit didn't have such good tidings, "Admiral, we can't fire, all the starboard batteries have been disabled."

Yularen looked at the officer in disbelief, "All of them, including the heavy batteries?"

With the officer's nod, the Admiral could only grimace, "We're sitting ducks then," He muttered as he could only watch as the enemy ships continued their merciless assault. He remembered General Skywalker was still waiting for the green light, as much as he hated to send the shuttle out in this storm, it would be their best chance to reach their destination. It would take weeks before the Republic could send ships to break through thei Separatist's new lines on Tyfex, possibly even months. With the Jedi's mission having been classified as Priority Alpha, it was clear that they couldn't wait that long.

"Give General Skywalker the green-light for launch and recall all squadrons back to the ship."

The communications operator acknowledged the Admiral's first order, but he quickly pointed out that one of their squadrons was too far from the main lines to make it back in time.

"What squadron is it?"

"Identification reads it as Vibro Squadron sir."

"Patch me through to Captain Drex, secure channel."

"Right away," The COM officer responded as his fingers quickly moved across his console. "Link established sir."

"Captain Drex, do you copy?" Yularen asked

"I hear you sir," Drex responded, "This really isn't the best time to talk though sir."

"Captain, we have to retreat and you are too far away to make it to friendly lines in time. I'm sending you the transponder codes of an assault shuttle, it's headed for Tyfex. Follow the shuttle to the planet and link up with General Skywalker."

"Yes, sir" Drex responded before cutting the channel. He re-established his link with his squadron and quickly filled them in.

"Follow a shuttle to the surface?" Six-Nine repeated in disbelief, "With a hundred fighters on our tails, oh that's a great idea."

"Try and make it back to the rest of the fleet then if you want," Six-Five replied, "More kills for me."

"Cut the chatter," Drex interrupted harshly, "We need to get to Tyfex fast or Vibro Squadron will have fought its last battle."

"Sir, I don't see how its possible to make it to the planet with so many Vultures out here."

Drex grimaced at Six-Nine's statement, it didn't seem possible to survive such a pursuit. His gaze lingered to a nearby Lucrehulk-class control ship and a tight smile grazed his features. "All wings, full deflectors to the rear and form up on me. We're moving planet-side."

* * *

**Some of you might be wondering why I used the term trihectal for a battle formation, if there were four ARCs to a group. The simple answer is that the formation is named so because there are three groups.**

**You may also wonder why I have other Jedi refer to Anakin as Jedi Skywalker and not Master. I hate the fact that Lucas has others naming Anakin Master when he is not a Jedi Master. It makes sense for Ashoka to refer to him as such, but not for anyone else. It makes sense, to me, for it to either be Jedi So and So or Knight so and so when they hold the rank of Jedi Knight.**


	9. Scouting

**Long time since chapter eight, couple of years I know.**

**Here's the installment, about 15,000 words shorter than it was supposed to be and no, that's not a joke.  
**

* * *

Drex gritted his teeth, sweat running down his face beneath his helmet as he fought to control his starfighter, his ARC-170 shaking from the near misses of enemy turbolaser fire. Moving an entire fighter squadron toward a Lucrehulk-class control ship wasn't the best idea the squad leader had ever had, but desperate situations forced soldiers to look outside the norm for solutions.

"Now I know why they call them Vultures," A voice that could only belong to Six-Nine stated with a rough edge to his voice.

"No worries about the Vultures Sect," Six-Eight said in reply, "That's what the Lucrehulk is for."

"You're right Flash," Six-Nine said with a grimace, "Drex, I just want you to know that this is the stupidest thing we've ever done."

"Aren't you supposed to say meaningful things to a squadmate in a situation like this," Six-Twelve paused, though he could still be heard grunting as he used more aggressive evasion tactics. "You know, some deep secret. For instance, Primer, I once sabotaged your DC-17 during a training exercise."

"Unbelievable," Six-Five growled into his COM, "I failed the practical that day because of that. It was you?! Rico, when we land on Tyfex, you're going to wish these Vultures were just a little faster!"

"Quiet," Drex snapped, "On my signal everyone cut down on a sharp ninety degree downward arc, shut down your deflectors, and divert the power to the engines. That should bring use to one hundred and twenty percent of maximum."

"Let's hope we don't have a burn-out," Sect muttered.

"On my command," Drex said into the COM, his eyes glued to the Lucrehulk-class carrier. Vibro squadron was getting dangerously close, their starfighters were only a few hundred metres away from the entrance to the carrier's hangar bays. Enemy fire was increasing from both the front and rear with the addition of more pursuers and the fact that the elite squadron entering into the firing arc of the carrier's anti-starfighter batteries. "Mark!"

His pilots acknowledged by following his lead, power was cut to every system in Vibro squadron for two seconds before being reinitialized. Every Advanced Recon unit was now accelerating toward the planet below, the engines running hot. By the time the Vulture droid's artificial intelligence realized its prey had changed course, the Lucrhulk's automated defences above fired at the ghost of an enemy signature still locked into the ship's scanners. Red flashes erupted below the behemoth vessel, the deadly projectiles impacting into a massive wave of droid starfighers, turning the predators into scrap.

Drex grinned with the sight of vanishing enemy signatures on his scanner board. Sharpe let out an approving whoop from the back, "Great thinking sir! Looks like a reactor overloaded up there."

"We're not out of this yet Sharpe," Drex said over an open COM channel, "I estimate that we've got ten seconds before the droids track us."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Sect replied, "But there's no way we're getting planetary in ten seconds."

"Quite," Drex agreed, "But there is a way we can get into the planet's atmosphere and let Tyfex pull _us_ in. Go dark on my mark." Drex said, mentally judging how far this planet's gravitational pull could exceed. "Three…..two….one…Mark!"

Following the command, twelve ARC 170s began plummeting to the planetoid below, the blue glow of active engines becoming a black void. Each of the pilots struggled to keep their craft level, its speed reaching levels that were pushing hull integrity to the limit. The twelve ships looked like small interstellar fragments as they glowed a fierce yellow with the heat of atmospheric entry. Vaguely, over the fierce fight Drex was putting to keep his craft steady, he was aware of activating his ARC 170's sensor jammer. The device was a fairly new creation for the Republic. The small marvel had the ability to block a craft's transponder codes from being identified, thus ensuring scanners would identify it as a piece of debris or small meteor. It had a minute affect radius, but with Vibro grouped so close together, it didn't matter.

"As soon as we reach the tree-line, pull up!" Drex barked.

"Cutting it awfully close," Six-Eleven spoke in a slightly shaky voice.

"There's no other way to live Strafe," Primer responded, his voice showing his amusement, "I love this job."

By the time, the squadron could see the world looking dangerously close through their viewports. The pilots quickly reactivated their ships and levelled them off, the trees only centimetres beneath their ventral hull. Everyone breathed as sigh of relief, though Sect felt it was the time to comment on Primer's statement, "Some job Primer, no vacation pay, and no compensation for stress."

"You think that was stressful?" Primer spoke with a laugh, "Just wait 'till we have to re-engage our Separatist friends above. Personally, I can't wait."

"You're one of a kind Primer," Drex said with a hidden grin, "Everyone, start scanning for the General's shuttle. Preferably before we run out of fuel."

"Way ahead of you sir," Six-Three said, "One metallic object has been found, two kilometres to our east." Six-Three paused, studying the scan results, "Its profile matches that of a Nu-class attack shuttle."

"Good work Walker, upload the coordinates" Drex said with a glance to a distant metropolis, "I don't want to be spotted by the locals."

-

Nu-class attack shuttles were known for many things but manoeuvrability was not one of them. These ranged from simple concerns, such as landings, to things like avoiding enemy fire. Such were the thoughts of Jedi Skywalker while he continued to move the transport in wide arcs, trying to avoid the lone Vulture that had followed them to the lower hemisphere of Tyfex. The assault ship was now breaking into the thermosphere, but the droid starfighter was still keeping chase. "Is it so hard to ask for a rear mounted laser cannon?" Anakin spoke more to himself than to his padawan, who was watching the scanner board in the co-pilot's chair.

"I can't say my top concern right now is ship design flaws Master." Ashoka spoke dryly as she directed the older force-sensitive to the left.

"Well maybe you should start thinking about it Ashoka," Anakin said a little defensively before an idea sprung to his mind that made him grin. "Because it's important to know that if I cut power to the engines by eighty percent," Anakin said, doing as he described. A small jolt rocked the shuttle's occupants with the sudden power drain. The engines had enough power to maintain a hover, while the Vulture shot past. "That way, Anakin continued once the engines were back at a hundred percent power, "You know that you can let your enemies move in front of you, where you're free to fire at your leisure." All four of the assault ship's dual laser cannons fired, sending blue flashes streaking through the planet's sky. Two bolts were able to find their target, the impact enough to destroy the starfigher's power systems, leaving the disabled mechanical to plummet toward the ground below. "See?" Anakin finished with a smug expression.

"You just made that up!" Ashoka accused, "That wasn't a design flaw."

"I beg to differ my young padawan, Most ships need ten percent engine power to hover, less for a landing. That fact that this shuttle is different means there's a power coupling deficiency."

Ashoka groaned, only her master would be able to turn his idle complaints into a lesson that needed to be heeded. Anakin chuckled at his padawan, looking for an ideal spot to land. Just as he had expected, the terrain outside the nearby planetary capital was pocketed with yet undisturbed vegetation. A few clearings presented ideal landing locations, Anakin studied the land for a minute before choosing one that was on the outskirts of the looming metropolis ahead, but far enough away that their craft wouldn't be spotted by anything less than an aerial scan.

The shuttle touched down without further incident, with Anakin quick to lower the access ramp and disembark from the shuttle, his padawan and their assault team following his lead. A large array of forest was the first thing to greet the Jedi's sight, the tress far taller than the shuttle's folded wings. Various avian lifeforms could be heard chattering among the branches, though they remained out of sight. Anakin knew from his research that only one predator threatened his group, the Macta. Highly agile creatures, the Macta made their homes on the forest floor, their six-legs and razor sharp claws gave them easy access to their favourite prey, avians. The Jedi knew from various databases that the Macta had no problems devouring any sentients that crossed their path.

Of course, while the presence of such creatures was a curse, it would also help to keep their camp free from prying locals. A problem Anakin expected to encounter more than once during their investigation. The distinct pulsation of ion engines could be heard and it made the whole party freeze in shock for a split second before both lightsabers and blasters were raised and active. A look of utter disbelief crossed Anakin's features at the sight of twelve ARC 170s lowering for a landing.

Blue and green blades extinguished at the scene, with the clones lowering their weapons a few seconds later. The Jedi Knight moved toward the lead fighter, his padawan at his side. He couldn't help but notice that although the clones had lowered their weapons, their safeties were still off. The top hatch of the first starfighter gradually slid open, a clone pilot emerging as soon as it was open. The clone moved to within three paces of the general before snapping off a salute. "Captain Drex of Vibro Squadron reporting sir."

"What are you doing here Captain?" Anakin asked, "I can't imagine Admiral Yularen destroying the Separatist fleet."

"You're right about that sir," Drex said as he removed his helmet, "The fleet was barley able to limp out of that hot spot. My squadron was too far away from the main lines when the recall was issued, so the Admiral ordered us planetside."

"I see," Anakin said absently, his gaze sweeping over the remaining squadron. Camouflaging twelve more craft in the limited timeframe the Jedi had originally planned was stretching it, but that didn't mean it was impossible.

Ashoka could see her master was deep in thought, she had no doubt he was trying to re-evaluate his original plan. Of course, the squadron leader was still standing at attention in front of Anakin, expecting orders. With a smile, the young Togruta provided them. "Get your men out of their fighters Captain; I imagine their in need of a break."

Drex looked between the General and the Commander before giving a grateful nod to the girl, "You have no idea Commander."

A quick wave was exchanged to the rest of his squadron before the pilots started to reluctantly leave their 170s. By the time Anakin was done with his mental re-evaluation, twenty-four pilots now stood in front of him. The Republic General looked back to see that Captain Rex and the others were still standing by the shuttle. A quick beckon from their mission leader was all it took for the assault team to move toward the group. "Captain," Anakin said, his eyes on Rex to avoid confusion, "Ashoka and I will be scouting the city, I want you and the others to start camouflaging the ships and create a defensive perimeter. Nothing too elaborate, just enough to keep the Macta at bay."

Rex answered the command with a nod, "Sir."

A smirk played across Anakin's lips, "Oh and Rex, meet Captain Drex." The latter was said with a gesture toward Vibro Squadron's leader.

"Huh," Rex said, amusement and curiosity in his voice, "So why they call you Drex?"

Whatever answer the squadron commander was going to give was cut off by Sharpe, "Because if you put him in a fighter, he's just like a wild Drexl sir, deadly, fast, and unstoppable."

"We'll be back in a few hours," Anakin said, his statement more of an after-thought as he and Ashoka moved toward the planetary capital.

"Alright," Rex said to everyone, "Cove, you're in charge of ship camouflage."

"Right," The appointed Master Corporal answered with a nod.

"Everyone else, corner trenches twenty metres from the ships and early warning systems at a thirty metre distance."

"Early warning systems?" Bypass questioned with a grin, "You mean sticks Rex."

"Same thing," Rex said with a small smile tugging at his lips.

Sect sighed as he took off his helmet for a minute, stealing a glance around their makeshift base camp.. The majority of Vibro Squadron was working on the tranches while Master Corporal Cove was creating improvised cam nets nearby, the distant sounds of rustling vegetation let the pilot know that Captain Rex and his party were still working on creating a warning system. Everyone had been working for a good twenty minutes now and the effort was starting to show, both the assault shuttle and half of Vibro Squadron were now covered in Cove's cam net, ensuring they would be hard to spot from even a low-flying patrol ship. The north and south east trenches were fully excavated and, at last report, Rex had given his task a forty percent completion rate.

Taking a deep breath, Sect dropped his helmet beside him and resumed working on his section of the south west trench. The survival tools he'd brought from his 170 were proving to be incredibly useful. Widening the trench, the elite pilot couldn't help but sing, "Another day on the job. Master got me working. Haven't had a break, probably never will. Someday Master, set me free—,"

Sect cut himself off when he felt something strike him in the head. A quick glance around brought him to gaze at a scowling Primer, a small stone still clutched in one hand, "Sect, shut your gob before I do it for you!"

-

Thirty minutes from the time the two set out, Ashoka and Anakin stood just shy of the entrance to the capital city. While not nearly as sprawling as Coruscant, the city still had its fair share of high-reaching towers and other high reaching buildings. The highest walkways could barley be seen from the Jedi's position on the ground, but they appeared to wind throughout the various towers, acting very much like a second street.

While the development rate may not have been similar to Coruscant, the layout looked to be exactly the same. The ground floor looked to be for those too poor to afford the high living standards further up, with every level thereafter built to accommodate those with more credits than those below.

"Are we going in yet Master?" Ashoka eagerly asked from his side, the chance of exploring a new planet excited her, even if it was solely for Jedi business.

"Of course," Anakin said with a smile, "What better place to start than the local cantina."

"The cantina?" Ashoka asked in disbelief, "Shouldn't we be searching for a Separatist communication facility."

"That is, of course, our ultimate goal. But to do that, we'll need to know a few things first."

"Like?" Ashoka urged with a frown.

"Like where the Separatist buildings are, what their garrison is like, how the majority of the people feel about being on a CIS controlled world." The Jedi turned to his padawan, "We can't just storm the place, lightsabers blazing and expect to accomplish anything."

Ashoka couldn't hope to fight the blush that spread to her cheeks at his last comment. That had been exactly what she was thinking, albeit with only storming the capital. "Okay."

Anakin cast one last look around the perimeter of the city to make sure no-one was around to see them before sprinting out of the forest and into a large clearing. An energy field was the only obstacle preventing a straight run into the city limits. The shimmering green field was far too low to be anything other than pest control against the Macta. A quick force powered leap from both force-sensitives was all it took to bypass the obstruction. One last sprint put them both in an alleyway off a main street.

Luminous signs let the two know they were in the city's lower entertainment district, clubs and cantinas being the more advertised attractions. The Jedi Knight stopped to turn to his padawan, "Put your lightsaber in your boot."

"Why?" Ashoka asked with surprise, watching her master store his in his tunic.

"What does your lightsaber represent to you?"

Ashoka just stared at her mentor, the sudden query surprising her. "Uh, it gives me security, a feeling of power, and a reminder that I'm a Jedi." Ashoka smacked her palm to her forehead at her last statement, frustrated at how stupid her question sounded. "Right, duh." Unclipping the weapon from her belt, Ashoka eased the hilt into her boot. It was a tight fit, not to mention uncomfortable, but she could live with it.

Anakin smirked at his padawan, "You're getting smarter every day, Snips."

The young Togruta looked away in embarrassment and put on a mock-pout, "Not funny."

"Oh but it is," Anakin said with a chuckle, "And you know it."

A smile found her way onto the apprentice's lips despite herself, "Maybe a little."

"We're going to take a cursory look around a couple of cantinas here and move on from there," The former slave said, his expression becoming serious once more.

"Master, maybe I should wait out here."

"No need, you'll be using your new technique, won't you?" The rhetorical query was stated before the Jedi moved toward the closest cantina.

"Apparently I will," Ashoka said dryly before she disappeared from view, silently trailing after her Master."

Blazing music assaulted Anakin's ears as soon as he set foot inside the drinking establishment. Many different species could be seen drinking liquor from all corners of the galaxy, along with many of the native Tyfexians. With their humanoid characteristics, Tyfexians didn't look all that different from the Naboo, the only difference being clothing. Being human, Anakin didn't stand out nearly as much as the Trandoshan in the back. A cursory glance showed that a distinct number of the patrons were mercenaries, their attire composing of armoured suits and not-so-well hidden blasters. Anakin relaxed his guard somewhat when he failed to spot any Separatist droids; at least the regional governor wasn't one for absolute control. Deciding it would be suspicious if he just walked around and left, the General made his way to the bartender and requested a hit of Arboite Twister and T'ssolok. The Aqualish male nodded and returned a minute later with the familiar yellow and orange coloured fluids, each in a separate small glass.

The Jedi took a careful glance around before holding the glass of the yellow coloured T'ssolok at his side, where he sensed his padawan waiting. "It's made by the Twi'leks," The General whispered, "You might like it."

Anakin waited before he felt a small tug on the glass before releasing his grip, glancing to make sure it was gone from his view before sipping his own drink, smiling at the thought of what his old Master would say if he could see him now. Arboite Twister wasn't exactly a tame drink, though its effects mattered little to a Jedi. The Force was just as effective at increasing the body's rate of breaking down ethanol as it was at healing wounds.

The Shili-born apprentice was enthralled by the drink her Master had given her, it tasted like sweet fruit in her mouth, its feeling amplified as it moved down her throat. The yellow liquid vanished all too quickly for the Togruta's liking and she briefly considered asking for more before she remembered that she had to remain unseen. Amusement and annoyance tinged her thoughts at the reminder. _He probably did that on purpose_, Ashoka thought with a half-grin, _no doubt his way of telling me to keep my mind on the mission_.

As soon as Anakin downed the rest of his drink, he waited for Ashoka to give him her glass before leaving a small chip worth twenty credits on the table and leaving the cantina. The next bar wasn't very far away, leaving the Jedi to wonder if the owners cared for maximizing profits. Stepping in and finding the new establishment just as full as the other, however, let Anakin know that they didn't need to compete with one another.

The General ordered the same drink as before, making a point of not giving Ashoka another sample, for the simple reason that he hadn't had time to teach her how to use the Force to ward off intoxication and he was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to handle another with her body being unfamiliar with alcohol. The Jedi sipped at his second supply of Arboite Twister, wondering why there seemed to be so many mercenaries in this one section alone. Their exact profession remained a mystery but Anakin suspected that the majority were bounty hunters.

Occasional glances from patrons around him made him realize that he properly stood out a little too much to be considered normal. Once the supply of Twister was depleted, Anakin waited until the bartender came back before setting down a chip for fifty credits. The bartender, a human woman this time, looked at him with questioning blue eyes, as if to say that he was giving her too much. He smiled and said, "For the drink and for some information."

The woman nodded, looking unfazed, letting the General know that he was far from being the first to ask for such a thing. "I'm looking for a place to stock up on munitions and armour," Anakin spoke in a hushed tone so that only she and his padawan could hear, "Know a place?"

"Oh," the woman said as she looked him up and down, as if scrutinizing him, "You're a mercenary then."

It seemed to more of an observation then a question. Anakin had to fight the instinct to sneer, the last thing he ever wanted to be labelled as, was a mercenary, the scum made his skin crawl. For the sake of the mission, however, the General forced a smile on his face and nodded.

"I know of one place, a lot of customers talk about it often. There's a small storage area just outside the district limits, sells everything from pistols to heavy armour apparently."

Anakin nodded his thanks and took his leave, moving out of the cantina and to the closest alley he could find. An exhausted Togruta appeared in front of him, her Force power use having been pushed to its limits to sustain her new ability. "We're posing as mercenaries," Ashoka said dryly once she was sure no-one was around, "How delightful."

"I don't like it anymore than you do," Anakin snapped, "But we'll have to do this if we want to blend in." Ashoka looked taken aback at his unexpected outburst; even Anakin himself froze for a moment. "I'm sorry Ashoka, let's just get this done."

The Togruta nodded in reply, perplexed at her Master's behaviour, but eventually shrugging it off as their mutual dislike of the galaxy's scum.

-

-

Forty minutes later of walking through different districts, moving through streets, and cutting through narrow alleyways found the two standing outside of an old building that, for all intents and purposes, looked abandoned. Two guards stood next to what looked to be the building's sole entrance. Deciding to just walk in, the two moved to the warehouse, the two Rodians tensing at their approach.

"State your business," The green alien on the left called, his armoured form coiling to a ready-to-strike position.

Anakin took a moment to glance at the heavily armoured Rodians. If their armour was a sample of what was inside, the Jedi would be impressed. Their suits looked to house extra-plating on top of a flexible armour-weave that enabled both protection and more range of motion in the normally cumbersome suits. "We're here to purchase armament; I was told that this was the place to go." Seeing Rodians as mercenaries wasn't a surprise, even if was at a place as far away from their homeworld as Tyfex. Most of those who left the jungle planet became bounty hunters or some other profession thereof.

"Wait a moment," The guard responded, his hand making contact with a COM terminal. "Boss, I have two more eager customers for you." The front door opened with the owner's acknowledgement, with the guards stepping aside to give the potential buyers access.

The General moved inside to see an immense storage facility, each row was filled with armour and weapons of every sort, more than half of them illegal in the Republic. Further observation was cut short by the approach of a black-armoured figure, his every person fitted with some type of armament or device. His helmet also looked like it served a respiratory function, letting the Jedi Knight know without a doubt that the figure in front of him was an Ubese. Given their deep hatred of the Republic, the Jedi in particular, it wasn't surprising for him to be arming an entire populous on a Separatist controlled world.

"Welcome," The owner spoke in slightly accented Basic his voice reminiscent of a vocabulator as it filtered through his mask. "As you can see I have a wide selection to choose from. Whatever you're looking for, chances are I have it."

"No doubt," Ashoka couldn't but say in amazement.

The Ubese cast a curious look at the young Togruta, "I'm not sure if you'll be able to find armour to your size, little girl."

Ashoka shot him a piercing glare, "I hope for your sake that's not the case."

A slight shuffling could be heard beside Ashoka. Anakin didn't need to be Force-sensitive to know that more guards were inside, now on edge at her threat.

A soft chuckle escaped the Ubese, "You definitely have spirit young one. Regardless, most armour fits all," He glanced at Ashoka, "Even volatile girls. Appraise either myself or one of my associates," he gestured toward his nearby guards, "When you're finished and we can talk price."

The Jedi could see that Ashoka was still fuming after the Ubese's casual dismissal of her. Though not being privy to his usual attempts to calm her down with so many guards around, Anakin let his hand grip her shoulder as he led her away to the closest row of armour. She seemed to calm down after that, though whether it was genuine or if she had forced it after realizing it didn't fit with their cover, Anakin couldn't say.

Turning his attention away from his padawan, Anakin removed his hand from her shoulder and gazed at the stocked armour. He intended to do most of his scouting at night so he opted for a dark colour complexion, black being the most ideal. A complete bodysuit caught his attention, it looked to be something any soldier would classify as heavy armour. Hardened plating protected vital areas while flexible armourweave protected the joints, increasing the range of motion. Not seeing why he wouldn't be able to don the armour, Anakin did so. It was uncomfortable over his tunic but such a feeling was only a trivial concern, since he would be abandoning his Jedi garments completely when the time came.

Encased in armour, Anakin felt compelled to find a helmet. He wasn't sure if it was to solidify his cover or an unconscious desire to complete the look. Regardless, the General moved further along the racks, his newly armoured feet clacking against the floor. Among the many helmets lined up, the Jedi seemed drawn to one in particular. Just as black as his suit, the helmet featured a built-in respirator. The vertically placed rectangular filter fitted where the wearer's mouth and nose would be, while a small visor provided sight capability. Heavy plating was affixed to the top and sides of the helmet, ensuring maximum protection. It would take some tweaking to ensure that the helmet could read the armour's electronic signature, but Anakin decided that it was worth it.

Moving away from the seemingly endless rows of armour, the Jedi moved to the weapons inventory. More than a few weapons caught his eye, having been on many missions with Obi-Wan in his time as a learner, Anakin recognized a few of the many pistols as disruptors. The General picked up the closest and inspected it. Disruptors were illegal throughout Republic controlled space for a reason, the discharging energy pulses emitted a microscopic shockwave on impact that jumpstarted cellular activity, forcing molecular bonds to break apart. The result was agonizing pain with few protective attire in the galaxy able to withstand even a single blast from the weapons. Their destructive power came at a cost, however, as more Tibanna gas was required than norm to fire a single shot, meaning that more ammunition had to be purchased.

Anakin was surprised to find that both the weapon's power housing and blaster pack were already in the pistol. For all intents and purposes, it was ready to fire. _This Ubese has either lost his touch_, Anakin thought with a frown, _Or there's more to this than meets the eye_. Given the fact that the owner was both adequately protected and well armed, and the amount of guards patrolling the storage area, the former slave assumed the latter was more likely.

Not particularly fond of disruptors, but deciding that the mere possession would solidify his cover, Anakin holstered the weapon and grabbed one more for his padawan. Moving further along, the General found himself looking at Republic weaponry, specifically DC-series weapons. The Jedi couldn't help but wonder how the handful of Republic affiliated arms had been obtained, with a growl he shook off his distracting thoughts. Either a supply convoy had been raided or the weapons had been scavenged from the battlefield, there had been unfortunate opportunities for both since the war broke out. Anakin took hold of two of the more reliable version to be manufactured by BlasTech, the DC-15S. The compact carbines had an upgraded power supply at the trade-off of having less firepower than their rifle counterpart, the DC-15A.

Purchasing done, Anakin went in search of his padawan. With the Force as his guide it didn't take long to find her gazing at her armoured form. The young Tofruta was wearing a dark grey armoured suit that resembled old military combats. The dark-grey uniform wasn't well equipped with hardened plating, not surprising as Ashoka liked to be highly manoeuvrable during engagements.

While her external expression may have been unreadable, he could sense her disgust at sacrificing any of her mobility and looking like the very thing they both couldn't stand. "You don't look that bad you know," Anakin said as a greeting when he was close enough.

Ashoka tensed at the strangely familiar but different voice, her expression grew confused while her body coiled in preparation for attack. Realizing he was still wearing his helmet, Anakin removed it with a grin. "Using the Force for identification isn't a bad thing every now and then you know."

"Sorry," The Togruta replied as she relaxed. "I know I don't look bad," Ashoka said in answer to his original comment, "I just…"

"Feel annoyed and disgusted at the same time when you're dressing up as the very thing you always thought you'd be fighting against, even if it is for the sake of a mission." Anakin finished for her once she trailed off.

"Yes," A look of surprise crossing the young girl's face before it started to look at him with questioning eyes.

"Force-sensitivity," Anakin said in answer to her unvoiced query. "I was told by the council that you had the same thing," The General continued with a teasing grin, "Maybe they were wrong."

"I'm Force-sensitive," Ashoka said with defiance, she might have felt slightly hurt at his comment if she didn't know it was a joke.

"Whatever you say, my strangely non-Force adept apprentice," Anakin said the last with a laugh as he went searching for the Ubese owner. A surge of energy came at the former slave fairly quickly, his protective veil slamming up by instinct. The veil protected him from the majority of the impact, though enough had hit him before the veil went up that the Jedi stumbled for a moment.

The General turned back to look at his attacker to find a smiling Ashoka looking back at him, "How's that for sensitivity Sky Guy."

Anakin shook his head at her antics, smiling back despite himself, "C'mon, we still have to check on the others at camp."

The two made their way back to the front to find the Ubese owner conversing with one of his guards, though the conversation instantly dropped once he noticed his customers approach. "I see you were able to find what you were seeking."

At Anakin's affirmative nod, the Ubese examined their selection thoroughly. "I commend your choice of weaponry, not many people have the stomach for disruptors these days. Most unfortunate."

The Jedi had to fight to keep his fist from tightening at the trader's words, an action which went unnoticed by all but his padawan, who glanced at him briefly before looking back at the Ubese.

"Most of these are top of the line; I can't let them go for anything less than 6,000 credits."

Ashoka stood shock still at the mention of that much currency, you could afford a speeder for that price. She had no idea how her Master planned to let them walk out of here with their purchases, even if it came to a fire fight she wasn't sure if the would be able to get past all the guards, not to mention the heavily armed Ubese. Ashokka was glad she had chosen to forgo armoured footgear as her hand inched towards her right boot, she looked at her Master, waiting for a signal to strike.

To say she was surprised when Anakin said, "Deal," was an understatement, the very idea that her master had access to that much currency was unbelievable.

The former slave withdrew a small chip with a galactic bank account number imprinted on it, making sure to specify the transfer amount before handing it over to the arms dealer. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had given the chip to Anakin during his eighteenth birthday, saying that he had taken the liberty of providing him with his own account.

-

"How much is in it?" An eighteen year old Anakin asked as he twirled the small chip in his fingers.

The Republic leader smiled at his pupil, "Let's just say that there are planets that make less."

That had stopped the padawan in his tracks, "You mean I…I can…"

"Buy anything you desire," The Chancellor finished with a smile, "Quite."

Anakin felt exhilarated at the prospect before the thought of what his Master and the other Jedi would say flashed through his thoughts. "I can't accept this sir," Anakin said in a rush.

"Why not?" Palpatine said with confusion. "You've given the Republic everything, isn't it time we gave something back."

"That makes sense I guess," The padawan said after a moment of consideration, going against the part of his mind that screamed for him to give the chip back to the Chancellor, pocketing it instead. "Thank you sir."

"Don't mention it my boy," The Head of State said with a smile, "If anyone has earned it, it's you."

-

The Ubese took the chip and, after checking to ensure its validity, withdrew one of his own. A small electronic pulse was sent from Anakin's chip to the owner's, adding the 6,000 price tag to the Ubese's chip and simulating an event that was already occurring galaxy-wide. A moment passed while the Ubese waited for a confirmation green light before handing the device back. "A pleasure doing business with you."

_No doubt_, Anakin thought with a hidden expression of disgust beneath his helmet. "There is one thing I'm curious about."

"And what is that?"

"Why stack fully loaded weapons?"

"Ah, yes." A small laugh escaping the armoured trader, "The last customer believed me to do the same, thought he could purchase some free merchandise." The owner's armoured hand moved towards his holstered pistol as if living a memory, "He didn't get what he was looking for. As for why he made a mistake in his assumption, I'm afraid that's a trade secret, whose information is not for sale."

Knowing that was a good an answer as he was going to get, the Jedi regretfully said his thanks and left the facility, his padawan falling in step beside him. She couldn't help the burning curiosity to know how her Master had access to such funds, "How did you—"

"Trade secret," Anakin interrupted harshly. Though he shot a smile at her after a few seconds, the apprentice could still see a haunting look in his eyes, clearly he didn't want to talk about it. Ashoka dropped the subject for now but she was determined to find the answer.

* * *

**Thanks for all of those who have reviewed and for those who continue to read this every-leap-year-updated story**


	10. Trackers Online

**Not too bad of an update if I do say so myself. **

**It didn't take me four months either, imagine that. **

* * *

"Don't move!" The shout was issued with the feeling of a DC-15S being pressed into the back of hardened armour plating. _In retrospect_, Anakin thought while he put up his hands to placate his aggressor, _walking into a clone encampment with a disguise on wasn't the best idea_.

"Trooper, it's me, General Skywalker," Anakin clarified while he removed his helmet.

The blaster was lowered so quickly, the Jedi thought the clone's arm might have been sprained. "My apologies sir."

"At least I know your time didn't go to waste in creating that defensive perimeter," The General said with a grin.

"Quite," The clone who Anakin now recognized as Master Corporal Cove replied.

"Where's Ashoka?" Anakin asked more to himself than Cove, looking to where he had last sensed the Togruta girl at his right side.

"Fifteen metres to your right sir," Cove answered before Anakin could even stretch out with the Force, already pointing right at her. "Its part of the reason why I engaged you sir, I recognized your padawan and thought she was stalking a target."

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" The Jedi asked once his apprentice stepped into view, a slight smile on her face at his query.

"Maybe," A sheepish smile on her face, "You have to admit that was priceless." She looked at Cove, her smile turning into a frown, "How did you know?"

"I'm not called the best at stealth for no reason Commander." Cove said while he started walking back to camp, his two superior officers following him in. "I'm just surprised that the General didn't know you had left his side sir."

"I was distracted," Anakin said defensively. Truthfully he was, he and Ashoka had spent the remainder of the daylight hours combing their way through Tyfex to look for Separatist garrisons or buildings, neither of which had been found. To say it was frustrating was putting it mildly, no progress had been made, and the Jedi was running out of ideas.

"Of course, sir," Cove said in response to the General's defence.

Ashoka laughed at his disbelieving tone, making the Jedi Knight pull himself from his musings and look at the trooper, "Are you being sarcastic to me Master Corporal."

"Possibly," Cove said once they had entered the main encampment, his amused grin hidden from both Force-sensitives as he headed back to his sentry post.

The weary Jedi sighed, his eyes looking at what the clones had been working on while he and his padawan had been occupied. All of the ships were covered with camouflage nets, making their shapes difficult to decipher even from a close distance, leaving the General with no doubt that it would be almost impossible to spot from long-distances or from the air. Half-circle trenches were excavated in the corners, providing outward firing arcs where the majority of the forest's wildlife could still be heard chattering away. Three pilots from Vibro Squadron were in the north-eastern trench, paying their respects with a simple nod at the two's approach, knowing a salute would only give prime targets to any potential enemy forces lurking nearby. While neither the clones nor Jedi had seen any droids outside the city, they couldn't afford to take chances.

The General squinted his eyes shut once he and Ashoka left the shadows provided by the trees, bright rays of sun bombarding their retina. Not much sunlight filtered to the lower levels of Tharen and it was only now that the two were out, that they realized just how much time their search had gone on for. With the sun so low on the horizon, it was clear to the Jedi that several hours had passed since departing for the capital city.

Stepping further into camp, the Jedi caught sight of six tents. Rex and the others had taken the liberty of creating makeshift tents from the survival gear stored on the assault shuttle. Each of the improvised shelters were composed of survival blankets on the bottom with a small tarp propped up by multiple stakes to form a dome top. Cove had tried to place them in ideal locations, resulting in the tents being scattered close to the camouflaged ships.

The idea of sleep was extremely tempting, but the General forced it down. He still had things to take care off before he could indulge in such a luxury. Ashoka, however, didn't have that responsibility so the Master dismissed his apprentice. A quick conversation with Lieutenant Marks let the two Jedi know that the tent next to the assault shuttle was for the two Force-sensitives while the rest of the troops were lodging up six to a tent. Anakin watched his apprentice head to their designated tent, her final comment at being able to 'finally remove her annoying suit' making him grin. He waited until she was out of his sight before setting out to find Captain Rex.

He found his company captain in-between the north-west and north-east trench, with Sergeant Bombard next to him. The two appeared to be talking, judging by their body language, but the Jedi couldn't hear what they were saying, even when he moved closer. It didn't take him long to realize that the two had probably deactivated their helmet's external COM speakers, in order to converse freely without fear of giving away their position. "Rex," The former slave called when he was less than ten metres away.

The two soldiers instantly stopped what they were doing and turned to face their mission leader, "Sir?" Rex questioned once his external speakers resounded with a slight pop.

"Anything to report?"

"Negative sir. We had a run-in with a couple of Macta during set-up," Rex pointed to the south-east, "Nasty creatures, but that was a few hours ago. We did manage to kill one, they actually taste pretty good after cooking for a couple of hours sir."

"You ate one?" Anakin asked, his voice a mixture of disbelief and amusement. Leave it to Rex to say one of the galaxy's most aggressive predators was tasty.

"Yes sir," Sergeant Bombard answered with his own hidden grin, "It took us a while to decide which were the best parts to eat, and even longer to skin it."

"And here I was, spending the last thirty minutes in Tharen getting food for all of us."

"You brought food sir?" Rex asked

"Of course," Anakin said with a grin, "Did you really think I was going to leave us all on a diet of rations if it could be avoided." He smirked at the two, "Of course if you want to keep hunting for the rest of our time here…"

"Uh….that's okay sir." Rex said quickly, "Macta take too long to cook anyway."

"I left the supplies inside the shuttle, let the others know." Anakin looked at the nearby trenches to find them occupied by a few of the Vibro Squadron pilots. "I assume you've already sent up sentry shifts."

"Yes sir. Rotations are every two hours."

"Very well, appraise me of any concerns," Anakin said, moving to his designated tent.

"As you wish sir," Rex replied, "Oh and General?" The company captain waited until his commander stopped to face him, "Good to see you finally armoured."

Anakin grinned in reply, moving to manually check the camp's layout before turning in. Sunlight was quickly diminishing in the southern hemisphere, with Tyfex's continual rotation, making it harder for the Jedi to see with every passing minute. The clones seemed to notice as well, a soft COM transmission could barely be heard by the General. "Visibility is at thirty percent of optimum, switch to image enhancement."

"Roger, changing visual filter. Wait a minute, I've got a malfunction here." Anakin passed by the south-west trench to see a pilot tapping his helmet.

One of the other occupants in the trench gave his partner a good punch to the helmet. "Okay, that's got it wor—," The pilot cut himself off with two more strikes impacting into his helmet, one of them managing to make his protective attire dig into his skull. "What the hell was that for Primer!"

"I told you I'd get you back Rico, this is just a sample you little saboteur."

"Oh, you're one to talk. I know all about your own 'modifications' to training simulations."

"What are you talking about?" Primer asked, his voice betraying slight nervousness.

"You screwed up a simulation my team and I were in. I'm sure you remember, the one where the Kaminoans first started conducting field exercises with their holographic simulators. It was two days after digging an entire trench, _two_ _days_ of three to four hours of sleep and in the distance of our little forest scenario we see a pink Bantha come lumber across the narrow clearing."

Primer couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. "Everyone thought it was a system malfunction," Rico continued, "Except me, I checked the system later and recognized your slicing signature. The Kaminoans, unfortunately, bought into the idea of a malfunction so we had to do the entire exercise all over again, the next _day_." Rico shot a smirk at Primer, "That's why I sabotaged your DC-17A. I hope you enjoyed your sight continually falling off during your marksmanship evaluation."

The two let out a good laugh at that, "All right," Primer said with a grin, "Fair's fair." Out of curiosity, he continued, "What exactly did you first think when you saw that pink Bantha?'

"What else?" Rico shrugged, "We thought we were all hallucinating from sleep deprivation."

The two pilots shared a good laugh at that, with the Republic General smiling to himself while he headed back to his tent, confident that the area was more than secure enough to deal with wild animals and prying sentients. Even before reaching his sleep area, the Jedi could sense that his apprentice was already deeply immersed in slumber. He quietly laid down across from his padawan, so as to not disturb her.

Anakin closed his eyes, expecting sleep to overcome his senses. Although his mind felt sluggish, part of him couldn't help but try to work out methods of discovering the Separatist communications centre. He knew from over-hearing conversations, and his own assessments of Tharen's citizens, that some type of resistance was active in the city. His attempts at trying to coax someone out to approach him, however, had failed. Since he didn't know who was in the organization _he_ couldn't approach the freedom fighters and with his distinct lack of Separatist building locations, nor could he raid any Separatist garrison and gain their trust. The General had no way of planting a trail for the resistance to follow.

The Jedi was aware that he could take the time to unearth the organization's contacts but that would take days, possibly weeks. With a mission as important as this, timing was everything. Frustration was starting to mount and it was making the former slave restless. Knowing he wouldn't be able to find sleep any time soon, Anakin sat up and decided to settle for meditation to at least rejuvenate his mind. It took a minute to let go of his frustration, but once he did he found himself slipping into a trance.

A series of images flashed in his mind, the armour he was currently wearing, the abundant presence of mercenaries in the ground level, and scenes of bounty hunters such as Jango Fett, Cad Bane, and Aurra Sing.

Anakin regained his senses with the passing of the final image. His mind now feeling freshly rejuvenated, it didn't take the Jedi Knight long to realize he had been going about his mission the wrong way. He was thinking like a Jedi, when in a situation like this, he should be thinking like a mercenary. The Confederacy of Independent Systems was well known for hiring bounty hunters, and with a capital city full of the guns-for-hire, a lot of them would be on Confederacy payroll. _Someone here knows where I can find a Separatist building_, Anakin thought, his movements taking him back toward the very metropolis he had recently departed. _If I'm to think like a mercenary, then I'll get what I'm after, using any methods necessary_.

The troops had seen their General leaving, but had not said anything, sentry duty demanded that only important information be relayed. Friendly movement throughout a defence area could hardly be classified as pressing. The Jedi knew of one person he could inform, and he could sense him just as he was on the edge of Captain Rex's established perimeter. "Master Corporal?"

"Yes General?" Cove asked, his voice coming from somewhere above the Republic leader.

"I'm heading back to Tharen, I've some unfinished business. Inform Captain Rex."

"As you wish sir," Cove responded, watching the General depart before doing as ordered.

Trudging through the ground level of Tharen once more, Anakin moved with purpose to the area's market district, the local citizens going out of their way to avoid crossing his path. With his helmet re-equipped, the reluctant mentor had no doubt that he gave off the appearance of a bounty hunter with a timetable. While the middle and upper rings had a variety of exotic stocks in their respective trade sites, the majority of the ground level was stocked only with the bare essentials. There were, however, a few places off the main area where other items could be purchased. While drug holdouts and other such places were common in the narrow streets, there were a few buildings home to traders who were forced to work their way from the bottom up. The General knew from his own scouting that one such trader could be found here.

As was custom for areas off the main streets, the nearby buildings looked to have been built centuries ago. Flickering advertisement signs and piles of fresh debris were the only indication that the area was still inhabited. His helmet's integrated illumination feed swept through the darkened sections, allowing him to find his destination and move toward it. A small door was the only obstacle barring entry. Seeing that it was unlocked, the Jedi moved inside.

Mechanical parts strewn across various tables were the first scene to greet the General's vision. The deactivated chassis of droids, along with the abundance of engineering equipment solidified the formers slave's believe that this was, in fact, a droid shop. "How can I help you?"

The sudden query might have startled Anakin, if he hadn't sensed the merchant's approach. As it was, he simply turned to face the one who'd spoken. The trader was an Arkanian male, which was surprising to say the least. Generally, their species did not venture far away from Arkania. Though it was not surprising that one was trying to make his fortune by building droids. Intelligence was as abundant among the Arkanians as the aggressive nature was to the Aqualish. The Jedi was starting to think that this trader might have set-up his business down here in order to obtain a higher profit from the many mercenaries in the city. It would help explain his unusually calm demeanour in the presence of an armoured buyer.

"I'm in need of seeker droids," The sound of Anakin's harsh filtrated voice made him sound more menacing that he intended.

Unfazed by the tone, the trader thought for a moment. "I may have just the thing. Give me a moment."

The merchant retreated to his back room, where the sound of rustling machinery and moving parts resounded throughout the store. The Arkanian returned a few minutes later, a small spherical shaped droid held in the crook of his arm. "This droid is the ultimate tracker. Repulsor lift engines allow it to effortlessly move, a holo-transmitter will patch visual and audio feed to the owner, up to a range of 300 metres. As an added bonus, it comes equipped with a cloaking device."

Anakin grinned beneath his helmet; the cloaking device was an unexpected bonus. "Do you have any more?"

"Of course," The Arkanian said as though that were obvious, "How many do you need?"

"Two more should be sufficient," the Jedi said after a moment of thought.

"This is going to cost you," The Arkanian warned, looking over his customer carefully, as if comparing the retail value of his equipment with what his droids would cost.

"A reasonable amount, I assume," Anakin said, his helmet doing wonders to amplify his threatening tone.

"Of course," The Arkanian stated with casual dismissal, "A minor price of 20,000 credits."

The price would sound far from minor to most, but for three droids equipped with cloaking devices, the amount was more than fair. Powered by stygium crystals, cloaking devices were able to make objects invisible to both sensors and the naked eye; the former through absorption of sensor scans and the latter by way of shielding the host's reflected energy and emissions. With the galaxy's only known primary deposit of the crystals having been depleted on Aeten II centuries ago, modern cloaking devices were few and far between, with only the truly rich and powerful able to acquire them.

Even so, 20,000 was a little steep.

"Make it 12,000 and we have a deal."

"Unacceptable," The Arkanian exclaimed, "But I could be persuaded to lower it to 15,000."

"Done," Anakin stated before repeating the same thing he'd done with the Ubese arms dealer. His credit chip was placed with the Arkanian who handed it back a minute later. "I also require the use of one of your workbenches," Anakin continued, the droids now in his possession.

The Arkanian thought about it for a moment, "I suppose I can extend such a privilege to a good paying customer. Very well, but make it fast. I have other orders to fill after all."

The Jedi waited until the merchant retreated into the back room before taking the first seeker droid and placing it on the bench. The droid was quickly powered down so that Anakin could take hold of a hydrospanner and unfasten the droid's casing. With the droid's internal circuitry exposed, it was a simple matter to reprogram its electronic signature to the same as his helmet, in order to be sure that any visual feed would be transmitted directly to his Heads Up Display. It took a lot longer, however, to program the droid to immediately focus on conversations with keywords such as 'bounty,' 'target,' 'employer,' and 'Separatist.'

It was an hour and a half later by the time the General had performed the modifications to all three of his seekers. He left the merchant's shop and back toward the entertainment district, heading toward the closest building overlooking the district. A quick series of Force jumps was more than enough to get him on top of a three story building. With his interactive HUD, the Jedi only had to think about a task for the three droids to perform and the electronic signature, now shared by his helmet and seekers, would transmit the information. So all Anakin had to do was plot a course to three of the closest cantinas on his HUD tactical map and relay the information to the droids. A confirmation beep resounded from the machines, with the units moving off to three separate destinations, their cloaking enabled with one more command.

Visual feed from the seekers' now active holo-cams filtered on the right side of his HUD, the image constantly swivelling as the droids wound their way through oblivious citizens. The General decided to sit back and wait for the mercenaries in the various drinking establishments to relay some useful information. _With so many amateur mercs in one place_, Anakin thought with a slight grin, _it shouldn't take long for one to get drunk and start spilling secrets_.

Two hours passed before the sound of conversation jerked an armoured Jedi Knight out of his slumber. Dimly, he thought he had fallen asleep in a crowded location before he remembered his seekers. A quick glance to the right of his HUD confirmed that one of the droids had heard a conversation with one of his given keywords and was now focusing solely on the individuals involved.

Focusing on the small screen, the General could see that his target was a clearly drunk human male, his speech was slightly slurred and his coordination was askew, his hand having already knocked over his glass in an attempt to pick it up. "Got…big pay check, ya know?"

"Really?" A clearly uninterested patron responded

"Oh yeah…big time pay. My employer was pleased…real pleased. Good hunt….big time reward."

"Braxis, I think you should go home," Another human, a female this time, stated sternly. Judging by her armour, it was clear that she was his partner. _Considering this Braxis_, Anakin amended with a smirk, _the entire reason for any operation_.

"Yeah, home! Can…count my big time reward."

The other bounty hunter rolled her eyes and left, leaving Braxis to slowly make his way out of the cantina. Anakin quickly tasked his seekers with tracking Braxis' movements. A quick consulting of a tactical map let him know that his target was only four blocks away. The Jedi wasted no time in sprinting after his prey, his mindset fixed on how a mercenary would handle the situation.

Not many citizens spared the General a second glance, his form winding through narrow streets and passageways, giving testament to the fact that Tharen, at least the ground level, was a prime centre for bounty hunting. When he was less than five metres from his staggering target, Anakin moved ahead to the only place the hunter would be going, a narrow street that led off a dead-end road. As soon as Braxis rounded the corner, he only had time to flinch in surprise at the sight of Anakin before the Jedi reacted. In two swift movements he had his prey slammed against the wall on his knees, his previously holstered disruptor pistol now pressed into the man's forehead. "Who do you work for?" Anakin growled, his filtrated voice making the man's already dilated eyes widen even further in fear.

"What's it to you?" Despite the current situation, Braxis tried to maintain his hunter demeanour.

"Don't test me scum, there's a bounty on your head that I could collect but I'm after someone bigger." A blatant lie on the Jedi's part, but the helmet's respirator made his voice sound menacing enough that he almost had himself convinced.

"Forget it, I—" The butt of a pistol to the side of the skull cut him off.

"You're not worth my time; now talk before I'm forced to make a decision. Alive or dead," The disruptor digging into the mercenary's forehead a little more forcefully with his last word, "I get paid either way."

"Okay! Okay!" Braxis shouted hurriedly. Even with his mind sluggish from intoxication, he recognized the danger he was in. "He's a low-level Separatist enforcer, works in the small tower across from the government quarter, on the middle level."

"For your sake," Anakin stated coldly, "I hope that information is accurate."

"It is! It is!"

By the time Braxis felt the courage to look up after feeling the disruptor recede from his skull, the armoured figure was gone.

-

Admiral Yularen rubbed his weary eyes, setting down the fleet status report he had just obtained from Commander Praxton on a nearby console. While the starboard batteries on the _Resolute_ were either destroyed or inoperable, the rest of the fleet had suffered far worse. The _Arrestor_'s fire control centre had been severely damaged, rendering the targeting systems of every weapon useless. The _Pinnacle_'s life support system had been damaged during the violent battle, forcing the majority of the crew to evacuate to both the _Pinnacle_ and _Resolute_ while a few volunteers remained behind in zero gravity suits to attempt repairs. If that wasn't enough, three of the fleet's Acclamator marks IIs had been completely destroyed, their positions having been too far away from the Venators when the Separatist reinforcements hyperspaced in.

The fleet was now holding position five light years away from Tyfex after jumping on a randomized vector. The badly scarred vessels had been holding position for almost a day and they were still no closer to battle readiness. While the Admiral had never believed he would be able to win against Tyfex's new defence fleet, he had hoped to at least distract the Separatists when General Skywalker signalled, in order to get the Jedi Knight back to friendly territory. Such a hope, however, was now as bleak as the internal lighting of the damaged capital ship.

"Commander," Yularen called to his ship's second-in-command, "What's the closest friendly shipyard?"

Praxton thought for a moment before responding, "Bestine is our closest facility Admiral." The Commander looked torn about something, so Yularen didn't respond, knowing that Praxton was debating whether to speak his mind or simply follow the Admiral's orders. In the end, curiosity won out. "Sir, aren't we going to pickup General Skywalker?"

"As much as I hate to leave comrades behind Commander, we don't have a choice. Our fleet will never be repaired in time if we remain here. The facilities at Bestine, however, may be able to get us fully operational in time."

"And, if not sir?"

Yularen looked out the bridge viewport and didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "How long until the _Pinnacle_'s life support systems are repaired?"

Praxton glanced at a datapad in his hand, "Last time index from the workers estimated completion to be two hours from now."

"Very well, we'll wait two hours. If the repairs aren't done by then, we'll have to scuttle her."

"Understood Admiral."

The sudden flickering of the bridge's lights brought a scowl to Yularen's face, "What was that?"

Commander Praxton strode to a system display screen, finding sections that once been marked as repaired were now a flashing red. "The power generators on decks five and seven are damaged sir."

"That's…unusual," Yularen said, his expression becoming thoughtful, "Contact those decks, I want an explanation _now_."

Praxton moved to a COM terminal, relaying the Admiral's command. Silence on the other end of the channel prompted the clone officer to face his superior, "They're not responding sir."

Yularen paused for a moment, "Send a combat team to investigate, something's…not right." He finished with a slight shake of his head.

"Security Team Six," Praxton said, his voice echoing throughout the ship, "Move to junction echo, section two on deck five, investigate the area and report."

To say Sergeant Charger was surprised to the order to combat readiness during a fleet-wide repair crisis was putting it mildly. The senior non-com jerked involuntarily with the sudden sound of Commander Praxton's voice, making him smash his head on the diagnostic readout he'd been underneath attempting to fix. He sent back his acknowledgement to the _Resolute_'s second-in-command after shaking his head and started barking orders to the rest of his squad.

"This is Charger, everyone link up on deck three, sub-section four. We'll head to the armoury and then proceed to the objective."

He waited for his squad to acknowledge before closing the COM channel and following his own orders. A lift ride and ten minutes later gave way to a newly armed security team standing just outside their objective. The squad was already broken up into their individual fire teams, four groups of two made a horizontal line outside the entrance to the auxiliary power systems. The formation was a classic room clearing method for teams of this size, the first group would move to the far right corner, the next, to the left, while the last two would move to either side of the door. This ensured the creation of overlapping firing arcs, giving enemy forces no quarter. While the sheer prospect of intruders on the cruiser was beyond slim, Charger thought it best to assume the worst.

"Let's open this quietly," Charger spoke into his team's COM channel, "Spike, slice the door."

"On it Sergeant," The closest trooper to the door terminal responded. His DC-15S carbine held against his left shoulder while his right hand swept across the electronic interface.

The wide blast doors started to slowly slide apart a few seconds, giving Spike more than enough time to return to his place in line. As soon as the door was wide enough for a human to slip through, Charger and Sig moved to the far right, weapons in the shoulder. Cord and Lander moved to the left, leaving Dek, Mag, Torch, and Spike to move in just by the door. Carbines and rifles alike swept through the room, no immediate threat was apparent and, aside from the quiet hum of machinery, the room was quiet.

"Left side clear," Cord said, his voice resounding through the team's COM.

"Right's clear," Charger said.

"Understood," Spike responded, "Room clear."

"Alright squad," Charger said, his carbine lowering slightly to a ready position, "Spread out in fire teams, look for any anomalies."

A quick acknowledgement was relayed while the pairs started to comb through the area. A large generator stood in the middle of the room, its cylindrical shape positioned horizontally in the area. While not nearly as immense as the Venator's main reactor, the generator ran all of the secondary systems on the vessel, everything from terminals to lights. Charger was quick to notice that something wasn't right.

The generator didn't appear to be functioning.

While not a surprising discovery, given the fact that more than half of the _Resolute _alone was in need of repair, it was strange. Obviously their team wouldn't have been scrambled unless the generator had been operating normally before. What really struck the non-com, however, was the absence of repair crews. Unless a system was designated as a low priority, repair teams would be in place to try and counteract the damage.

Setting down his carbine, Charger switched to an electro-magnetic visual filter. Instead of a bright blue shimmering outline around the generator, his sight was greeted with a black void. Suspicions confirmed, the non-com set his filter back to normal and started to manually examine the generator. It didn't take long to find that the primary wires in the generator's outer shell had been severed, resulting in an interruption in what would otherwise be a complete circuit.

"Just as I thought," Charger muttered darkly.

"What is it Sergeant?" Sig asked from his squad leader's side.

"Primary wires have been severed; this type of thing doesn't happen in ship-to-ship combat."

Sig looked at the damage, "So, we have saboteurs on board, great."

Charger smirked at his second-in-command's dry tone, a new COM channel being opened to the bridge. "Sergeant Charger to Commander Praxton." The non-com frowned when static was his only reply. "Sig, see if you can reach the bridge."

The squad leader's frown deepened when Sig reported the same thing, "I don't like this."

"Lander to Charger, contact! Contact!" The sound of blaster-fire resounding from deeper in the room, with an added echo on the team COM, was more than enough to make Charger pick up his carbine and move after Lander's last known location, Sig hot on his heels.

* * *

**What a way to leave it huh?**

**The whole 'pink Bantha' concpet is a little reference to my own time during SQ training. Occassionaly when we were out on sentry duty, we'd see a bipedal pink rabbit sprint across the forest clearing. Being as sleep deprived as we were, a lot of us thought we were starting to hallucinate. Of course, it turns out that our instructors had decided to take turns doning the suit to make us think we were seeing things. **

**You might have guessed that the sight falling off is another thing I am, unfortuantley, intimatley familar with. Everytime we go out on the range, my damn optical sight falls off the top railing during a set of automatic fire. Personally, I think someone is screwing with my sight's wingnuts so that it doesn't tighten as much as it should. Still no evidence to support that theory though.  
**

**In case anybody is curious, Sergeants are referred to by their rank by ALL military personnel, ragardless of _their _rank. Just one other think about the Clone Wars that makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Call a sergeant a 'sir' in real-life and you'll either hear something like "I'm not a SIR, I'm a bloody Sergeant!" or "Don't insult me, I work for a living." The only non-coms referred to as 'sir' are Master Warrant Officer and above.  
**

**There's your fun facts for the day.  
**

**Anybody else think the newest Clone Wars episode was incredibly stupid? Zombie Genosians, c'mon. If it was a comedy, it definitely would have won first prize.** **I couldn't stop laughing, the sheer concept is beyond retarded. It was like a combination of the Flood from Halo and, I can't believe I'm gonna say this, the Borg from Star Trek. Two things that, in my opinoin, should never mix with Star Wars. What's next? Left for Dead, Clone Wars style?  
**

**But whatever, let me know how this chapter was.**


	11. Complications

**My apologies for the long wait, but I've been working on another project recently.**

**Special Thanks to Monte-chan, Demon Lady, and XxRandom NemesisxX for your reviews. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought that the inclusion of zombie Geonosians was a stupid idea.

* * *

**

A short cry of pain was followed by a terrified yell before the COM was forcibly squelched. "Lander! Lander!" Silence was his only reply. Charger forced himself to stop; moving straight after an unknown hostile was not the wisest course of action. "Squad, link up at the entranceway, double-time!"

He breathed a sigh of relief when the other two teams sent their acknowledgements. The four others arrived back in under two minutes, their postures tense and their weapons primed. Charger was considering sending Sig back to sound the alarm, but he quickly dismissed the thought. The entrance door had been sealed almost as soon as Lander had made his transmission; nothing short of high explosives would puncture the door's thick durasteel plating. "Sergeant," Mag said once he was satisfied the area was free of hostiles, "What do you want to do?"

"We need to find the main terminal for this section," Charger said, his mind tracing through the schematics he'd memorized of Venator-class Star Destroyers, "We should be able to select an alternate circuit pathway for the generator, that'll over-ride the lockdown and restore partial power."

"Main terminal will be on the second level Sergeant," Sig clarified.

Charger nodded in confirmation before signalling his squad to move out in a double column with a quick extension of his right hand, followed by the flashing of two fingers. Charger and Sig took point as the group made their way to a distant staircase, the clones sweeping their weapons in alternating paths in order to ensure that every angle was covered. It didn't take long for the squad to see power relay stations, a staircase leading to the relatively small platform above laying just beyond. His grip tightening on his DC-15 for reasons he couldn't explain, the Sergeant led his group forward.

Charger's feet had barley cleared the first step when a quick burst of blaster fire was heard. The non-com swiftly re-orientated himself in the direction of enemy fire, only to be met with the scene of Dek and Mag lying on the floor, their plastoid armour riddled at the torso with multiple impacts. The Sergeant didn't even have to glance at the squad status bar in his HUD to know that the two were dead. More bolts resounded from above, the brief flashes illuminating the darkened sections long enough to let the security team identify their enemies as droid commandos. "Move, up the staircase!" Charger barked into the COM, his carbine discharging in short bursts, "Watch your flanks!"

The saboteurs and security forces met in a savage engagement. Red and blue bolts impacted into deck plating and circuitry. The droid commandos pressed their attack, relentlessly pursuing their prey with their E-5s firing in ten round bursts. Red bolts sizzled past the clone squad, implementing a sense of desperation that even the most disciplined soldiers weren't immune to. Charger noticed the others starting to fire longer bursts, firepower becoming preferable to precision. "Squad, focus! Aim before firing."

The clones wordlessly acknowledged, taking the time to aim their respective armament before squeezing the trigger. Blue bolts tore through commando armour, severing circuitry, leaving three more of the black coloured combatants disabled. The security team slowed their retreat with more Separatist casualties, the tide turning in their favour. Charger shot a quick glance around the room, finding the number of destroyed mechanicals at five with what looked like another six still active. A single shot resounded from the right cutting off any further observation as Charger risked turning to face the source of the disruption. His eyes widened behind his helmet with the sight of Torch falling forward, his limp body moving down the staircase, his status bar now marked in red on the non-com's HUD. The droid responsible landed near Sig, dual red bolts discharging from the wielded E-5 before Spike was able to gun it down.

Charger moved by Sig's body, one of the shots had only grazed his shoulder while the other had pierced directly through his centre of mass. Charger fired rampant bursts from his carbine, forcing the commando droids to halt their advance as they returned fire. The non-com grabbed a hold of Sig's hand and started to pull him back to the top of the staircase. "Spike, suppressive fire!"

"Already on it Sergeant," Spike replied, his carbine discharging in ten round bursts, with an added sweeping motion.

The Sergeant pulled his injured second in command to safety, pausing occasionally to fire off a quick burst. It wasn't long before Sig's body was lying on the second floor, his pulse starting to become erratic. "Spike, patch Sig up! I've got your six."

"Roger," The clone responded, pausing until he saw Charger fire at the droids, "Disengaging."

Spike placed his carbine down by Sig, stripping his squad-mate's helmet and chest armour to uncover the wound. A small hole testified that at least a portion of Sig's protective attire had absorbed the shot, what wasn't absorbed left cauterized flesh in its wake, with Sig himself starting to go into shock. "Hang on Sig," Spike spoke, his hand reaching for the small medical kit in his belt. He pulled out a small bacta-foamer can, inserting the tip of it into the blaster wound and pulling the device's trigger. The regenerative liquid filled the hole in Sig's chest, leaving Spike to seal the wound with a bandage.

Spike glanced at his HUD and grimaced as Sig's pulse continued to weaken, "Come on Sig, the wound's sealed." The squad's second in command faintly opened his eyes, his breathing becoming shallow. Spike laid a hand on his comrade's shoulder, getting Sig to try and focus his eyes on him, "Stay _with_ me." Sig rapidly blinked to clear his vision, he started to wheeze, his eyes were slowly easing shut. "Sig, stay with me!"

Spike glanced at Sig's life-signs. He let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that the second in command's pulse was remaining steady; albeit weakly. It was clear that if the Bacta-foam didn't regenerate the damaged tissue soon, that Sig wouldn't live to see it out of the secondary generator room. "Sergeant, Sig's stable but I don't know for how long!"

"Good, get to the main terminal and bring the secondary systems back online. I'll hold them here!"

Spike hesitated briefly, reluctant to part from the last active member of Security Team Six. He knew, however, that if commando droids had infiltrated the _Resolute_, there was a distinct possibility that they could be on the _Arrestor_ and _Pinnacle_. Not to mention the fact that there could be more droids on the flagship then just the six attacking now. Charger glanced at him after firing another burst, even with his face hidden Spike knew he was fixing him with a glare. The clone stood, firing one last burst before sprinting to the control room.

Sergeant Charger watched Spike depart before focusing on firing on the advancing droids. Ignoring the red bolts passing mere centimetres by his crouched form, Charger focused on aiming his carbine. A quick burst was sufficient to destroy two more of the commandos, one bolt impacting into a commando's head, with the other two shredding through the armour plating of the droid behind.

A growl erupted from the Clone's throat when an energy projectile impacted into his right shoulder. He kept a firm grip on his carbine with both hands, ignoring the searing pain coursing through his shoulder as he targeted the mechanical combatant who had scored a hit. The discharging payload riddled through droid circuitry, hitting enough power cells to leave the droid disabled. Charger quickly switched targets, aiming at a Separatist commando that was half-way up the staircase. A bolt to the droid's head, ensured that it never made another step.

The squad leader of security team six cursed when his blaster refused to fire, its power cell having been depleted. Charger quickly reached for a spare power pack in his right front pouch. The commandos took advantage of their target's distraction, switching to their vibro-blades and charging up to the second floor. The Sergeant forced himself to stay calm, his peripheral vision seeing one of the droids leap in the air. _If I ever find out who put a nearly spent power cell in this DC-15 and stored in the armoury_, Charger thought as he slammed the pack into place, _I'll kill him_.

As soon as the pack was in its proper slot, the non-com leapt to the side, a sharpened piece of metal slashing down on the area where the Sergeant had stood only moments before. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the clone spun to his left and fired off a five-round burst. With the distance being so close, aiming wasn't required. Not even the reinforced plating of the commando units could survive such an onslaught.

Charger snapped his rifle to the right, his finger just shy of pulling the trigger when the last commando brought its vibro-blade down on the clone. The mechanical combatant hadn't been within optimum striking distance, leaving the blade to slash across the non-com's chest plate. Team Six's squad leader stumbled back, a cry of both pain and rage erupting from his throat, the blade having cut through his armour to make a light incision on the flesh beneath.

The non-com fired off another shot, but the droid quickly closed the distance between them. The droid struck out with the handle of its blade, sending Charger's helmet flying off his head. With all the speed a highly sophisticated droid intelligence could provide, the commando swiftly brought the blade slashing across the target's now exposed face before giving an added stab to the stomach.

Charger never had any time to do anything more than scream in pain as crimson blood welled into his vision. The screams turned into gasps for breath with the feeling of a blade piercing his flesh, his every nerve cell seeming to be on fire as he collapsed on his right side. The Separatist creation regarded its prey for a moment longer before moving away, its targeting scanners already seeking the last clone. Blackness crept through the sides of the Sergeant's vision, but he fought it down once his blurry eyes caught sight of his discarded carbine.

Ignoring the searing pain that amplified when he reached for his DC-15, Charger took a hold of the blaster and shakily started to point it at his target. Unable to bear the pain in silence any longer, Charger screamed out a cry as he pointed the blaster at the commando and fired two successive bolts. The discharging energy projectiles struck a surprised droid in the head, leaving its destroyed form to plummet to the deck. The non-com quickly dropped his weapon, a small smile tugging at his mouth, before he felt himself slip into darkness.

Spike knew he had to hurry as soon as he heard the scream. His fingers looked like a blur across the main console as he started to reinitialize the system's power. The clone had already electronically recreated a new path for the generator's primary circuitry. Spike inputted the last command, watching with satisfaction as the room's generator could be heard sparking to life below. The clone's head snapped in the direction of a loud cry of pain, a sound which was soon accompanied by the noise of discharging blaster bolts.

Spike ran back to where he had left Charger, his previously holstered carbine gripped into his shoulder as he moved. He stopped cold when he saw his squad leader's still form, the deck plating underneath his body a dark crimson. Regaining his wits, Spike moved close enough to kneel down by his Sergeant, relieved to see that he was still alive, though if his status bar was anything to go by it was clear he wouldn't be for long. Free to open a COM channel to the _Resolute_'s command centre now that the room's security lockdown was over, Spike did just that. "Bridge, this is CT-4365, are you receiving?"

"This is Commander Praxton, soldier," The acknowledgement came in after a few seconds of silence, "The bridge hears you."

"Commander, we've just engaged multiple hostiles, Separatist commandos." Spike paused for a moment to spray a dose of the regenerative bacta-foamer into Charger's stomach. "I have two critically wounded who need immediate medical attention!"

"Understood trooper, an emergency response team is on the way. We've had similar reports from the _Arrestor_ and other teams have reported contact elsewhere on the ship, stay vigilant."

"Will do sir, out."

Spike finished applying the final dose of bacta to Charger's facial wound; something he suspected would have made the Sergeant scream were he still conscious. The wide gash cut a path diagonally from the right edge of the forehead down to the lower base of the left cheek. The non-com was lucky that the blade had avoided both of his eyes, albeit only by a few centimetres. Spike stood by his two downed squad mates after applying several dressings to Charger's wounds, his carbine scanning the entire room in case any more commandos were still active. He only relaxed his guard when the emergency response forces pushed into the room.

()()()

Anakin stood in the shadows on top of a two-story building on the middle level of Tharen, his gaze lingering on a tower that was clustered amidst various other government structures. While far from being the centre of government activity in the capital city of Tyfex, the majority of those on government payroll were assigned to the centres tasked with municipal jurisdiction, the majority of which were on the middle level. Placing a building in the government quarter was a more subtle approach to the Separatist's normal method of showing dominance over those they had conquered, and it gave the Jedi just another reason to be glad he had pried the information out of the bounty hunter from one of the cantinas in the lower ring.

The former slave turned to his HUD, three panels displayed the video-feed from his seeker droids. One was tasked with monitoring the exterior, while the other two were scouring the tower in question, searching for critical systems. With their cloaking enabled, the droids were able to pass by entire groups of battle droids without being seen; an ability that had already been tested far too often for Anakin's liking.

One of the panels flashed red for a moment, signifying that one of the seekers had discovered something important. Anakin turned his attention to the panel in question, seeing that his droid had found the base's main generator. With a mere thought, the Jedi was able to get his HUD to create a rough map of the target's location based on the droid's flight path over the last few minutes. Taking one last look below to make sure the area was secure, the Republic General leapt off the building's roof, using the Force to slow his descent until his feet softly made contact with the main platform in the government quarter.

The former slave quickly made his way toward the building's main entrance, where four battle droids stood guard. Anakin stopped only a few metres away, resisting the urge to grab his hidden lightsaber still stashed away inside his tunic under his armour. He had made this trip specifically because he was trying to draw out the resistance that was strongly believed to exist on Tharen.

While revealing himself as a Jedi might have encouraged them to approach him sooner, it might also push them away. Anakin knew he had to play it safe if he was going to get contacted by anyone. Withdrawing his disruptor pistol, the Jedi aimed at the closest droid and squeezed off a bolt. The disruptor blast easily tore through the skeletal droid's armour, but Anakin hardly noticed, his pistol already firing at the next target in line. In the time it took for the first droid to hit the ground, Anakin had already dispatched two more, leaving the last to look around in confusion before an energy projectile struck the mechanical combatant in the chest.

A quick survey revealed that no-one had seen the brief flashes of blaster fire illuminate the darkened platform, leaving Anakin free to move in. The doors parted to reveal a dimly illuminated corridor, the green light reflecting off the dark gray interior. The Jedi cautiously moved inside, relaxing his guard somewhat when he couldn't detect an immediate threat. He consulted the diagram in his HUD, memorizing the route and then moving forward.

Three minutes later of navigating through winding hallways saw the General standing in front of the base's main generator. Anakin moved toward the generator's casing, realizing that he had no explosive charges with him and couldn't draw his lightsaber, he would have to sabotage it manually. A small terminal was positioned by the generator's left, the Jedi moved to it and typed in a command to raise the power intake in the first and second couplings but decrease them in the third and fourth. The result was an imminent overload that triggered an alarm klaxon throughout the base. The General smiled, making sure to lockdown the terminal with a standard Republic encryption before leaving. While it was unlikely that the base's droid garrison could revert the process, there was no point in taking chances.

The General sprinted out of the Separatist controlled structure, pausing only to fire his disruptor at a group of droids moving to the entrance. The three mechanicals were quickly dispatched with an equal number of well-placed bolts, leaving the former slave free to retreat out of the structure. He paused once he reached the building across, hidden in the shadows as he watched the power quickly die out in the Separatist base. The Jedi recalled his seekers and headed back to the lower ring to wait for the resistance to contact him. With all the enemy surveillance equipment capturing everything he'd done inside the Separatist facility, it was only a matter of time before the Separatists and, ideally, the resistance, discovered his exploits.

()()()

Thunderous music, the sound was becoming all too familiar to the armour donned Jedi Knight. So much so, that he was beginning to think the noises were permanently etched into his mind. He'd moved to almost every public mercenary attraction he could find, moving to various cantinas and to enough clubs to put even the most nightly active citizens of Tharen to shame. Anakin sat in the farthest corner of his current establishment of choice, a club simply named 'The Krayt.' The DC-15S carbine he'd bought from the Ubese was laid out on the table in front of him while his hand hovered near his still holstered disruptor. It had been a few hours since his dealings in the government quarter and Anakin was close to calling it a day. There was only an hour left before dawn and it was unlikely any resistance contacts would approach him in the day.

"Mind if I join you?" The query had to be shouted to cut through the music still blaring throughout the room. Anakin looked up to regard the one who'd spoken, finding her to be exactly what he had sensed, a human female, the same one he knew had been looking at him for the past minute. While his helmet may have laid beside him, it would still be obvious to everyone else that he was armoured. Confident that no-one in their right mind would ask an armoured figure to the dance floor, the Jedi believed her interests lay beyond flirting.

Nodding slightly to answer the woman's question, she took a seat across from him and asked for a glass of Juma Juice from a passing serving droid, asking if Anakin wanted anything; to which a simple shake of the head was her reply. Anakin used the momentary pause to observe the woman. She wore the standard red and black outfit the citizens in lower Tharen seemed to like, she had close-cropped black hair and wore a pair of boots that seemed reminiscent of military issue. While she had approached him trying to seem as a casual patron, the Jedi could feel through the Force that there was a calculated movement to her steps, a type of movement that only came from experience in a combat zone. She clearly did not fit the image of what she wanted to project, and it was for this reason alone that Anakin allowed her to sit with him. The droid soon returned with the desired beverage then left to tend to the other patrons. The woman took a sip from her glass, scowling as she slammed it on the table. "You ask for Juma and they give you Urrqal." She turned to regard Anakin, "Don't you just hate droids?"

A tiny smile found its way to Anakin's face, the way she spoke made it clear that she was not what she appeared at all. The Jedi had found his contact. "The combat models are the worst." The two locked eyes for a moment, with the woman nodding as she turned away.

"I heard about what you did to that building on the middle level," She continued after pausing for several seconds. "I'm impressed."

"I'm after another target," Anakin spoke as he looked straight ahead, "But I'll need your help to accomplish the task."

"And what exactly are you after?"

"The central Separatist communication facility." Anakin replied. "I need its location and your assistance in breaking inside."

"And what do I get in return?"

The Jedi turned to look at her, "A looser grip of Separatist control."

"Very well," The woman spoke as though she had expected him to say nothing less. She reached into her folds of her tunic and withdrew a datapad, quickly sliding it toward the General. "I'll contact you when we're ready to proceed." She reached for her glass, quickly downing the rest of liquid and preparing to leave.

"I don't suppose you have a name," Anakin asked as she stood up.

"Solman," The woman responded with the first smile he'd seen on her face, "Dari Solman. You?"

The General knew she would discover that he was a member of the Jedi Order as soon as he brought both his padawan and the clones to assault the COM facility. So, rather than prolong such a finding, something that could lead to a complete deterioration of relations, he decided to answer truthfully. "Anakin Skywalker."

"The famous Jedi Knight himself," Dari spoke with surprise. "I look forward to seeing if the rumours of your abilities are as accurate as the stories say." She gave him a departing nod as she left, "Farewell."

Anakin nodded in turn, watching Dari leave. Her good reaction had seemed accurate enough. If only he hadn't sensed a quick flicker of some other emotion when he revealed his identity, he might have believed it to be genuine. As it was, he simply holstered his DC-15 and re-donned his helmet, he'd watch her carefully. In the meantime, he still had to pick-up on the trail of an elusive Republic traitor.

Half of Tyfex's star was visible by the time General Skywalker returned to the Republic controlled camp on the outskirts of Tharen, his uncloaked seeker droids hovering near. Master Corporal Cove had already reported the arrival of their mission leader to Captain Rex, who was waiting for the Jedi at the centre of camp when he arrived. "How'd your late-night excursions go sir?"

"Especially considering your padawan wasn't with you," An irked voice that could only belong to Ashoka added; once the Togruta stepped into view beside a camouflaged ARC-170.

Anakin regarded his padawan for a moment, not needing to be Force-sensitive to know that she was more than annoyed that she had been left behind. Deciding to talk to his apprentice later, Anakin addressed his Company Captain. "Exceptionally well, I have the location of the Separatist communication facility and I've made contact with the local resistance group. So, you can tell the men that they won't be camped out here for much longer."

Recognizing the statement as more of a dismissal then an order, Rex cast a glance between his two superior officers before nodding to Skywalker and departing, a small smile and a shake of his head added as it was clear his two commanding officers were about to clash once again.

"I can't believe you left me here while you went back to the city!" Ashoka cried, feelings of anger, fear, and worry radiating from her words.

"I can't believe I went either," Anakin responded, "I did it on a whim that I would be able to make an important discovery. Turns out I was right."

"Why didn't you take me with you though?" The young Togruta shouted as she advanced on her Master. "Is it so hard to believe that I could be helpful to you! You might be the Chosen One, but we both know even you need help some—."

"Ashoka, stop." Anakin said, cutting her off. The Jedi regarded her intently for a moment, sensing her anger recede and her feelings of fear amplify, a fear of inadequacy. The mentor kneeled so that he was at his apprentice's level. "Don't take this so personally Snips. I didn't take you, not because I don't have confidence in your abilities, far from it, but because there are some things I haven't taught you yet."

"Such as?" Her voice was still laced with bitterness but Anakin could tell there was an underlying sense of curiosity.

"Such as the ability to rejuvenate your mind with meditation. I know you can use it to relax yourself," Anakin said when Ashoka looked like she was going to argue, "But there's a difference between them. If I had woken you in the middle of the night to accompany me, you would be exhausted by now and wouldn't be ready for the attack on the Separatist communication building."

The young Togruta nodded to show her understanding, but it was clear she was still feeling down. "Come on," Anakin said with a grin as he grabbed his padawan by the shoulder and pulled her to his side. "Who's my favourite padawan?"

Ashoka looked at her Master and regarded him with a mock-scowl, "Master, I'm your only padawan."

Anakin feigned an expression of confusion, "Your point?"

Against her will, the young apprentice couldn't prevent a small smile from tugging at her lips, her head shaking in amusement. Anakin released her, holding her at arms length, his face adopting a look of seriousness, "I am very impressed with both your abilities and development Ashoka, you're learning fast." He adopted a teasing grin when he saw her smile from ear to ear, unable to resist one last jibe. "Keep it up; you might be as good as me one day."

She narrowed her eyes at him briefly before smirking, "I believe I already proved that on Geonosis, if memory serves the final kill count on that was Apprentice: 60, Skyguy: 55."

"Perhaps," the General said with a grin, "But as I said before I called in the air-strike that saved Obi-Wan's infantry square and raised morale, something that is worth at least seven points. Overall, I still won."

"Maybe I'll be able to beat you again when we attack the communication centre," Ashoka spoke in a challenging tone. "In a way not even you will be able to deny."

"Maybe," Anakin said seriously, a smirk etched on his face when he continued, "Then again, maybe not."

"Game on then," Ashoka replied.

Anakin smiled at his padawan and nodded in agreement, "Game on."

Three hours passed, with Anakin briefing both his padawan and assault team on their plan of attack. He had explained that they would be attacking with support from the resistance, striking the Separatists hard and fast. Without a map or even a location of the facility in question, the Jedi's plan was more of a typical strike and secure strategy. The General had stressed the importance of quickly finding the terminal hooked up to the COM network. From there, Bypass would slice into the terminal, and either find another piece to the puzzle or discover the identity of the mysterious informant. Anakin had tasked Vibro Squadron with being on standby. Captain Drex, however, had been selected to pilot the assault shuttle in the event that the team needed immediate extraction.

Now, with it being close to mid-day, Anakin settled for doing the one thing he despised, waiting. He watched the clones move about, stripping camp as much as they could without creating breaks in the defensive perimeter. His padawan was actively pacing only a few metres away from him, her projected feelings of boredom mirroring his own. A soft beep sounded from the General's utility belt. Anakin opened the back pouch and withdrew the datapad Dari had given him. The display screen flashed in sync with the emitted beeps until the Jedi touched the screen. A small message was written in basic characters.

_We're ready for you, as promised. Come to coordinates three-two-six mark two-nine-five, upper level. Confirm message received._

Anakin frowned at that, he had expected the attack to come near dusk, not in the middle of the day. He quickly responded, with his concerns written too.

_We won't be seen, buildings on the upper ring are widely spaced out, even more so then on the middle level. You'll see what I mean when you get here_.

The Jedi wrote his acknowledgement, the datapad being stored back in his belt. "Rex," Anakin said into his wrist-COM, "Get mobile, we're moving into the city."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea sir."

"Neither am I Rex, but I have it on good authority that we won't be seen on Tharen's upper level."

"Very good sir, we're already in formation."

It took forty minutes for the Republic task force to move undetected from the camp site to a service lift in the lower city that took its armed occupants to the upper ring. Another ten minutes were spent getting to the Separatist communication station. Anakin could see what Dari meant when she said they wouldn't be spotted. While most of the buildings on the upper level were connected through a large platform, the buildings themselves were scattered across at great distances. Many of the structures rose up from the lower ring, with the platforms having been constructed to allow employees of higher status direct access to their specific place of employment. At this time of day, the platform was practically deserted, with only the occasional person moving around.

"I thought your contact was waiting for you." Ashoka said as she glanced around, expecting to spot more resistance members moving toward them.

"They are Snips," Anakin said with a grin, "They're already here."

The Togruta looked around, frowning when she didn't see anything different. She was about to ask what her Master was talking about, but she was saved from asking when the various people on the platform started running towards them, blasters being withdrawn from tunics. The resistance had been posing as citizens.

"Quite effective," Anakin said with a glance to his surprised apprentice, "Don't you think?"

"I'd say so."

Rex and the others tensed at the unexpected approach, they kept their blasters lowered at their mission leader's insistence but that didn't stop them from keeping the safeties off, their fingers hovering near their weapon's respective triggers.

"Skywalker," A woman replied once the armed resistance members were within ten metres, "Good to see you again."

"Likewise Dari," Anakin replied, "Shall we go?"

Dari nodded, signalling her group to move forward with a quick extension of the arm, leaving Anakin, Ashoka, and the clones to follow. The resistance moved toward a large building at the end of the platform. The wide, four level structure had several transceiver dishes mounted on the roof, with a total of twelve battle droids patrolling the building's perimeter and guarding the entrance. The resistance members and clones opened fire as soon as they were in range, with Anakin and Ashoka activating their lightsabers and storming into the fray.

The once quiet upper level was now filled with the sounds of blaster fire, blue bolts and local Tharen inspired green energy projectiles tore through plating and circuitry. The surviving droids attempted a counter-attack, but they were swiftly cut down by the two advancing Force-sensitives. Anakin waited until the others had caught up before cutting down the main door.

No sooner did the heavy metal slab hit the floor then the Republic found themselves under fire by more of the B1 combat models. Red flashes filled the corridor, forcing Anakin and Ashoka to rapidly move their lightsabers to deflect the incoming bolts. The clones and the resistance members rolled to the sides, firing at any clear targets. It didn't take long for the Separatist garrison to fall.

The assault force pushed forward, moving to the only other door present in the compound, a small blast door at the end of a short hallway. The use of blue and green energy blades tore a hole through the door, allowing the group to advance once again. Inside, the assault team was greeted with the sight of an immense chamber, one that looked big enough to house a squad of AT-TE walkers. Different clusters of terminals were separated by five metre intervals, each one linked to transceiver cables and large display screens that showed the contents of incoming and outgoing messages. Each cluster controlled a different aspect of communication, covering everything from communication between buildings to transmissions between planets.

"Amazing," Bypass said in awe as he gazed around.

"Don't get too excited Bypass," Rex spoke, his voice underlined with slight amusement at the things the slicer found intriguing. "Just get started on the retrieval."

"I'll have to find the right cluster first," The slicer said as he started moving around.

The sound of lights snapping on throughout the room turned the assault team's attention to what had once been a pitch-black area of the room and, what everyone had assumed was the boundaries of the COM room. Apparently, the already immense chamber was even bigger than they had thought. Unfortunately, it was filled with Separatist droids. Both of the Jedi re-activated their lightsabers with a snap-hiss, seeing that the droids present were all destroyers, commandos, and super battle droids, the SBDs forming the largest percentage.

"Quite the variety," Ashoka said, her gaze lingering on the large group, counting at least fifty droids.

"The Separatists only send the best to deal with Jedi."

The Republic forces realized that Dari and the other resistance members were standing by the entrance to the COM centre, their weapons now pointed at them.

"And you'd know that how?" Anakin spoke, his expression one of rage at a clear double-cross.

"Come now Skywalker," Dari chided, "How do you think? I'm the one who placed them here." A cruel smile touched her lips as she continued, "You see, there is no resistance on Tyfex. We only maintain the rumours and stories to coax citizens with thoughts of dissension out of hiding. The Republic may be filled with worlds that breed chaos and malcontent," Dari adopted a look of disgust at this, "But there will be order within the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

"You'll pay for this," Anakin replied, his expression darkening more with every word he spoke.

Dari adopted a mocking smile, "I do not think so. Droids, destroy them."

Red bolts erupted from Separatist weaponry at Dari's command, sending Anakin and Ashoka's lightsaber into a flurry of activity. The two Force-Sensitives concentrated on merely deflecting the bolts away from their group, not caring about where they landed. Droideka shield generators absorbed the majority of the reflected energy projectiles, leaving only a handful to strike into the thick concentration of SBDs. "Rex, throw everything you've got!"

"Yes sir!" Rex shouted from directly behind his superior, a COM channel opening to his team. "Squad, therms and poppers, all you can spare!"

The troopers demonstrated their compliance by throwing their grenades into the mass of Separatist combatants. Discharging pulses erupted within the droid ranks, overloading the power systems on multiple targets. Explosions sounded not long after as the clones switched to their thermal detonators. By the time the last soldier declared himself to be out of grenades, twenty of the mechanical combatants were down, with half of the destroyers having lost power to their shield generators.

"General," Bypass spoke into his COM, "I can see the planetary transmission control cluster, fifteen metres up the row."

"Acknowledged," Anakin shouted back, smoothly switching to a one handed lightsaber defence to use his wrist-COM, "Move forward, Ashoka will cover you."

The Togruta glanced at her Master, her expression becoming one of disbelief, "But Master you can't—,"

"I can hold them myself Ashoka!" Anakin shouted over the blaring sounds of blaster fire, "That slicing operation is important, now go!"

The young Togruta recognized the urgency in her Master's voice, moving away from her Master to cover a slowly advancing Bypass.

Anakin switched to a one-handed lightsaber defence , moving his saber in wide arcs to protect Captain Rex and the others while he harnessed Force energy into his free hand, waiting until he felt that he was at maximum before striking out. Within the confines of the COM room, the resulting shockwave created a reverberating crack as it travelled towards the droid lines, throwing super battle droids, destroyers, and commando droids into the far wall. Droideka's didn't have enough armour plating to withstand such blunt trauma to their chassis; the sheer velocity of the impact crippled the destroyers beyond repair. A majority of the commandos were left disabled as well; their armour plating having been weakened from deflected blaster bolts prior to the Force attack.

"That's evened the odds," Anakin spoke with a half-smile before charging toward the droid lines, "Hit them while they're down!"

Captain Rex and the others answered the order with a roar of approval, blaster pistols and carbines firing their blue payload at SBD units still struggling to rise. Four bolts were enough to riddle through the droid's thick armour, but, despite accuracy, there was still too many left for them to all be destroyed while they were recovering from Skywalker's Force push. It wasn't long before the General found himself in the same situation he had started out in. His blue blade was nothing but a blur of motion as it deflected bolt after bolt, the fifteen remaining super battle droids having resorted to opening fire with their arm mounted repeating blasters. Captain Rex and his group, grudgingly retreated close to their mission leader, knowing his lightsaber was the only thing preventing their deaths. That didn't stop them, however, from firing their weapons from the General's sides. A few of the mechanical combatants were destroyed with precise shots, forcing the super battle droids to engage what their programming considered to be the more immediate threat, the clones.

Sergeant Bombard side-stepped to avoid a burst of blaster fire that would have torn through him had he remained in his previous location. Only a fifth of the original Separatist force remained, but it was more than enough to put the Republic on the defensive. Gradually, Bombard became aware of less and less red bolts being fired in his direction. A glance to the non-com's right revealed why, the General was slowly advancing toward the super battle droids, directing all of their fire towards him while he closed to attack range.

The Jedi swung his lightsaber at the closest droid as soon as he was able, the energy blade easily slicing through the droid's chest. Anakin continued moving however, his lightsaber sweeping in a flurry as he deflected bolts, stopping only to quickly slash at nearby droids. The former slave was oblivious to the progress he was making, his sole focus being on destroying the Separatists within reach. Two commandos charged him with melee weapons drawn, but the blades were easily destroyed by a well prepared Jedi, the mechanical wielders sharing the same fate not long after, his swinging lightsaber leaving no survivors in its midst.

Bombard, who had watched the amazing scene of melee prowess in awe, snapped back to reality on his Captain's insistence. The droids to their mission leader's flanks were marked as priority targets, blaster weapons discharging as their wielders aimed at the closest enemies and squeezed their respective triggers. More of the heavily armoured combat models began to fall in rapid succession from the combined efforts of both the Jedi and the clones. It wasn't long before only one droid remained, a droid that Anakin swiftly moved in front of. He swung his lightsaber when the droid was aiming its blaster rifle arm in his direction. The Republic General was not quite close enough to his target, leaving only the tip of the blade to cut the droid's chassis. The incision proved too low to inflict any damage, however, forcing the Jedi to duck out of the way of the droid's striking appendage. Anakin turned around in his crouched position, bringing his lightsaber in a 180 degree spin that bisected the droid, leaving its broken form to crash onto the ground.

"I see that the rumours of your abilities are indeed accurate Skywalker," Dari spoke from the entrance, her and the others having been content to watch what they believed would have been a slaughter. A malicious grin found its way on the woman's mouth as she watched the Jedi snap his head into her direction as soon as she spoke, his weary expression turning to one of rage. "Kill them," Dari commanded her followers, her own blaster pistol raised as she squeezed off a series of bolts.

"Down!" The command was issued by Captain Rex and it was one that the assault team quickly obeyed. Green bolts fired at the height the clones had stood at only a second before. The soldiers quickly rolled and moved to a kneeling position, carbines and rifles firing at their betrayers. Two of the Separatist affiliated personnel were gunned down, blue bolts penetrating through hidden armour to cauterize the flesh beneath. Rex growled as green bolts passed far too close to the clone officer for comfort. "Kill the traitors," The Company Captain barked into his squad's COM, "Take them down!"

The clones rolled to the side to avoid more fire, though they were unable to return the favour when Anakin sprinted past them to engage the Separatists, his blue blade deflecting the bolts that now targeted him. Another of the betrayers was killed by a deflected bolt, leaving only eight of the traitors remaining. The rest moved in front of Dari, protecting her from the charging Jedi Knight. Even so, the woman knew that her plan had failed. "Farewell Skywalker," Dari called as she backed out of the COM room and headed out of the structure.

Anakin watched her go, feeling a rage erupt within him that was almost as strong as it had been on Crato. A roar erupted from his throat, his Force empowered limbs bringing him to enemy lines in a matter of seconds. His lightsaber became a blur of motion, its energy blade slicing off the weapon arms of those he could reach. Their crippled forms were left screaming on the floor, the loss of their appendages driving some into shock. It was far easier to cut through Separatist loyal humans than it was to cut down the droids they commanded, such were the thoughts of a vengeful seeking Anakin as he moved to the entrance, an exit that was blocked by the last three in the group. They stood their ground, levelling their blasters at him, but Anakin could sense their fear rippling below. Instinctively, he drew into their fear, using it to fuel his own power. In the time it took for a human to blink, Anakin quickly slashed at the human in front of him, bringing his saber around to stab the two to his left and right. The one he'd originally struck was on his knees by then, leaving Anakin free to end his life with one last stab. The Jedi brought his saber out by kicking the human away from his blade, leaving his battered form to impact into the wall behind him.

Realizing that Dari was still making a run for it, Anakin headed off to stop her. He moved down the hall, finding the woman in question close to the building's front door. A Force Pull brought her form flying back towards him where she landed only a few metres away. The dazed Separatist was held in a Force Choke, her form levitating in front of her attacker. Her left hand wrapped around her throat, trying to lift an invisible pressure that couldn't be moved. Even with her windpipe being crushed, Dari levelled her blaster pistol at the Jedi in front of her, only to find the weapon bisected in half before she could even aim. "Your….Republic…will….fall," The words gurgled out from a dying Dari, her defiance remaining strong, despite the fact that she knew she was dead.

Her words only served to further a Force sensitive's already intense feelings of anger. Anakin levelled his lightsaber at her with narrowed eyes, "No, the Separatists will be the ones to fall." Anakin Force Pulled a still choking Dari towards his lightsaber, impaling her on the energy blade. "I guarantee it." Anakin let Dari's corpse fall to the floor, his lightsaber deactivating as he gazed down at her lifeless form. "Farewell Solman," The Jedi mockingly said before moving back to the communications room.

By the time Anakin had re-entered the COM room, Bypass had found what he was looking for in the Separatist network. He was eager to share his findings but Anakin told him to wait until they were out of the sector.

"How exactly are we going to do that sir?" Rex questioned with a hidden frown, "Our only craft are an assault shuttle and 12 ARC-170s, neither of which has hyper-space capability."

"True, but there is a Separatist fleet in orbit that has plenty of ships with hyper-drives equipped. We'll be boarding a Munificent frigate, Vibro Squadron will escort our shuttle and we'll secure it while Vibro Squadron protects us from fighter attacks." With that said, Anakin activated his wrist-COM, "Captain Drex, we need an immediate evac at Site Alpha."

"Roger that General," Vibro's squadron commander replied, "I'm already on the way."

On their mission leader's command, the assault force moved to the building's main entrance. Ashoka moved past the bodies of the Separatist affiliated humans, torn between a feeling of remorse and the sense that justice had been served. She leaned more towards the latter, but that didn't stop her from shuddering as the lifeless eyes stared back at her or from feeling an echoing sense of fear at just how easily her Master had made the decision to kill them. Sensing his padawan's turbulent thought pattern, some of the Jedi's anger evaporated as he turned to his apprentice. "Ashoka, are you okay?"

Ashoka looked away from Dari's corpse to find her mentor gazing at her with concern. Remembering that Anakin had told her to concentrate on the task at hand first and foremost, Ashoka buried her concerns and gave a small smile in reply. She knew she'd have to think about it at some point, but for now, the Togruta was content to concentrate on getting out of Kiflor.

Drex arrived almost as soon as the team left the COM centre, he landed the shuttle as close as he could, the wings folding as the boarding ramp lowered. Everyone piled in, leaving Anakin to replace Drex in the pilot seat, while Ashoka took her place as co-pilot. The Jedi steered the shuttle towards the Republic camp where Vibro Squadron was standing by. Anakin let the shuttle hover ten metres in the air, while Drex leapt from the boarding ramp to his ARC-170 beneath. Anakin took off as soon as the squadron leader reported ready.

"We're activating sensor jammers General," Drex reported as the group rose into the atmosphere of Tyfex, "We'll just look like another piece of battle debris to the Seps."

"Very good," Anakin replied, the blackness of space now dominating the view out of the shuttle's transpartisteel window. "I'm fully expecting that the Separatists will send their remaining fighter squadrons against us once the droids report that they're being boarded, those enemy craft must be destroyed."

"Don't worry sir," Drex responded, "We'll handle it."

Anakin sent the assault shuttle toward the nearest star frigate, specifically on a heading toward the gap between the dorsal and ventral sections of the ship. Two of the three frigate's in the fleet had a small hangar integrated into the ship superstructure. These versions of the Banking Clan frigates were becoming more widely accepted as the standard among those in the Confederacy Navy due to its ability to rapidly place starfighters into a weakened sector; carriers such as the Lucrehulk were nowhere near as fast as their star frigate counterparts.

The Republic formation moved closer to the frigate, Anakin could see the shimmering blue outline of the hangar's deflector screen. "Vibro, target the starboard shield and prepare to fire."

"Yes, sir," Drex acknowledged his superior. "Primer, break formation and be ready to fire on the starboard hangar deflector module."

"Finally," Primer responded with a wide grin, "Something to blow up."

Six-Five moved out of the crescent rough double column formation, his targeting scanners settling on his designated prey. The group was less than three hundred metres away from the hangar when Primer got the word to open fire. Green bolts lanced from the fighter's forward cannons and impacted into the target dead-centre. The damage to the module was enough that the deflector screen flickered out of existence, leaving the hangar bay exposed to the blackness of space. Several droids were pulled out by the ensuing vacuum before the ship's blast doors began to close.

Anakin diverted more power to the shuttle's engines, letting the craft shoot toward its intended goal. Vibro Squadron kept pace alongside, intent on providing the shuttle with sensor jamming cover as long as possible. Anakin waited until the assault shuttle was within fifty metres of the enemy frigate before giving Vibro the order to break formation. The ARC pilots reacted instantly, their fighter moving into sharp dives or climbs to avoid a collision with the droid warship.

Anakin piloted the shuttle into the hangar, crossing the threshold with plenty of seconds to spare before the hangar blast doors closed. Anakin opened fire with the shuttle's forward armament on any Separatist droids still moving, sending blue bolts to rip through the recovering B1 models. Cover was proven useless, the light cannons fired bolt and bolt, the energy projectiles shredding through any object along its trajectory. The Jedi only stopped with the realization that a small fire had erupted in the hangar. Anakin brought the shuttle down as close as he could to the exit, landing the ship as quickly as possible while still allowing it to be relatively smooth.

He and Ashoka both left their respective cockpits, finding that Captain Rex and the others were already waiting by the boarding ramp. Anakin activated his weapon, "What are you waiting for Captain," The General said with a half-grin, "We've got a ship to steal!"

"Yes sir," Rex said, his hand slamming down on the boarding ramp release switch. Anakin and Ashoka quickly sprinted out of the shuttle, with the Company Captain and his squad not far behind.

* * *

**This chapter took far too long to create in my own opinion and I ended it just a little bit shy of my goal, but I figured that after 2 months I should give you something. So here it is.**

**I'm continously trying to walk a tedious line between writing a story that can be looked upon as canon, to writing one that still includes important aspects like logic, proper characterization (which sometimes even Lucas slips up on, specifically with Anakin) and accurate use of tactics and strategy. Part of this story forced me to bite my tongue as I found myself actually agreeing to the idea of a second battle of Geonosis with Ashoka's reponse to Anakin's teasing remark; due to the fact that I didn't know what to put in its place. Laziness? Most likely; but since Georgey boy has already declared it a fact, I may as well go along with it. If you're curious as to why I don't subscribe to the idea of a second battle of Geonosis...well just think about it from a strategic point of view. I'll give you a hint. It. Doesn't. Make. Sense!**

**And yes, Zanaso, I know I, once again, referred to a Venator as a Star Destroyer class vessel. But it makes sense to me, even for the Galactic Republic, to designate a ship with a fiercesome name in order to intimidate, or even discourage, opponents.**

**I'll either finish the rest of what I had planned and upload that later on, something that will proabaly only be about 3,000 words; or I'll include it into the next chapter. Option A, will proabably be my course of action. I've already done a rudimentary outline of chapter 13, I'm confident you'll like it after reading just the first **_**sentence**_**.**

**Let me know what you think!**


	12. Think of the Prize

**Just over 3,100 words. Not too bad of an estimate. Chapter thirteen, my second favourite part of this planned story is coming to fruition, never fear.**

* * *

General Grievous paced the bridge of the _Invisible Hand_, trying to exercise out some of his frustration, one of the few emotions he could still feel. He had been ordered to hold his position at Tyfex, only to report in when a 'significant event presented itself.' Despite the fact that the command had been given by Lord Sidious himself, the cyborg was running out of patience. There were Republic worlds that could be conquered, fleets to destroy, and, more importantly, there were Jedi to slay. And yet, the former warlord was forced to wait above a Separatist world for something that might not even happen. A growl erupted from his vocabulator, making the nearby Nemoidian crewers look livelier in their assignments.

"General," A droid monitoring ship-to-ship COM traffic said, "We're receiving an emergency transmission from Star Frigate two."

"Put it through," Grievous responded, a brief feeling of elation sparking within him with the realization that the wait might be over.

The hologram of a battle droid commander appeared in the centre of the bridge. "General, we're under attack from a Republic boarding party. Composition: two Jedi, five clones. Orders?"

"Skywalker," Grievous drawled, only the infamous Jedi Knight could be so daring. Perhaps he could still kill Jedi after all. "Set the self-destruct sequence and order all security droids to the bridge."

"Self-destruct sequence?" The droid questioned with what passed for uncertainty in a droid. A quick growl from Grievous made the commander decide to follow the command, "Roger, Roger."

"Deploy all fighter squadrons," Grievous continued once the hologram of the Munificent commander had vanished, "Star Frigate two is their target."

The COM droid acknowledged the General's command, relaying the order to the rest of the fleet.

-

"Here they come! Vultures inbound!" Vibro Six-Six called, his scanner lighting up with what appeared to be a dozen squadrons. Vibro had already separated into their highly successful trihectal attack profile, leaving two groups of four and one group of three protecting a designated section of the Munificent frigate below.

"I see them Turbo," Primer responded from his position in the back of group one, "This is going to be fun."

"Steady Vibro," Drex responded, "Remember we have the advantage here. Let them get closer."

When the droid starfighters were just four hundred metres away, Drex decided it was close enough. On their squadron commander's order, the twelve ARCs closed in on their prey, the dual forward cannons sending green fire lancing across the blackness of space. Several Vultures were caught off guard by the attack, the green bolts tearing through the weak armour plating with ease, shredding the craft into pieces.

Half of the incoming Vultures broke off and engaged the ARC 170s while the rest continued toward the Banking Clan frigate. "Groups Two and Three," Drex called, his ARC recovering from a port roll, "Break off and move back to the Frigate, intercept those fighters before they get in range!"

"Acknowledged sir," Turbo responded, "Heading back."

"Transmission confirmed," Six-Ten replied, "Disengaging sir."

The two groups manoeuvred their craft away from the skirmish, green flashes erupting from their fighter's sterns, trying to destroy the few Vultures that followed. "Strafe," Six-Ten said, his scanner board displaying three pursuers, "See what you can do about those starfighters."

"I'm on it Blas," Six-Eleven responded, "Moving off."

Strafe pulled out of the triangular formation group three had been maintaining, his 170 shooting above the others. The Vultures ignored the fighter in question, their programming forcing them to mark the two targets in front of them as a priority. Unhindered, Strafe cut power to his ARC for exactly two seconds, allowing him to rotate his craft 150 degrees from its original position. With the forward cannons now facing the droid fighters, all the clone pilot had to do was resume all power and fire away. Green bolts impacted on the Vultures from above, hitting the section that housed their artificial intelligence and rendering the craft disabled.

"Efficient," Rico stated, awe clear in his voice.

"Tell me about it," Six-Eleven responded with a smirk.

"Try not to be too modest Strafe," Blas replied dryly, once Six-Eleven had rejoined the group. "We've got three groups of two moving toward the bow," Blas continued, cutting off any possible rebuttal from Six-Eleven, "Pick your targets and intercept."

The other two pilots in group three acknowledged, their fighters now heading toward the unsuspecting droid starfighters. The pilots were quick to close in and neutralize the Vultures, destroying the fighters before they could even fire a single shot at the Frigate. "Turbo," Blas called once his group had reformed, "How is it going on your end?"

"Well, put it this way," Group Two's leader responded, his concentration clearly elsewhere, "I wouldn't be opposed to some assistance."

Blas grinned at his squadmate's blunt tone, "What do you need?"

"Four enemy fighters have broken off from the fight and are moving toward the stern. Suggest you pursue, we've got the rest."

"Copy Turbo, we're on it."

Six-Six half-listened to Blas' acknowledgement, the rest of his attention was focused on the remaining six Vultures engaging his group. The droid craft had surprised Turbo and his section by willingly breaking off from attacking the frigate to engaging in a dog-fight. The two groups were now rapidly moving in a small area, chasing each other in a circle as both sides tried to put the other in view of their forward armament. The ARC's had the advantage with their rear weaponry, but with the speed the fighters were moving, the weapon was little more than a lightshow. The rear gunners had to aim carefully; with the rest of the squadron packed so closely together, a single wild shot could burn out the deflectors of a friendly 170, leaving the target defenceless.

Not only were the pilots in group two concentrating on evading enemy fire, but they were keeping an eye on their scanner boards to avoid collisions while simultaneously listening to friendly COM chatter. Still, Turbo knew that whatever his group was going through, his squadron commander's entourage was having it far worse. The clone pilot glanced at the Munificent frigate, his fighter moving through another dive. With Vibro Squadron's fate starting to look grim, group two's leader could only hope that the boarding party would succeed soon, lest the ARCs add to the battle debris already locked in orbit around Tyfex.

-

"Move in! Move in!" Rex barked the command to the rest of his squad, encouraging them to press further down a Separatist controlled hallway.

The Company Captain's two Force-sensitive commanders were slowly advancing toward the wave of droids that were already guarding the frigate's command centre. The assault force was only fifty metres away from the bridge and the clone officer wanted to get there as quickly as possible. Vibro Squadron may have been protecting them from fighter attacks, but Rex wasn't sure how long a single fighter squadron, even one as elite as Vibro, could last with multiple enemy squadrons bearing down on them.

Super battle droids were lumbering forward, their nimble B1 counterparts providing a light screen in the form of small bursts of fire to cover their advance. Most of the red flashes were intercepted by green and blue blades while the rest were avoided by moving clones. Rex noticed the Jedi were unable to press forward with the sheer number of droids, even if the majority were the standard battle droids. "Cove, Marks—"

"Time to blast a hole?" Marks interrupted him hopefully.

"Time to blast a hole," Rex confirmed with a grin.

"Roger," Cove said for the two in acknowledgement.

While the DC-15S carbine was favourable in most combat situations, primarily for its high rate of fire and light weight, the DC-15A packed more of a punch and was highly useful in shredding through armour plating. Its most notable feature, however, was its ability to be fired at a higher power. Discharging bolts shot at such a level of power were very deadly, their level of energy allowing the bolts to remain stable for a distance of ten kilometres. There was a drawback, however, use of the rifle on high power rapidly decreased the weapon's power pack from the ability to fire 100 energy projectiles to ten. It was for this reason that clone platoons would select both the carbine and the rifle for combat use, the diversity ensuring maximum damage. Since Cove and Marks were the best shots in the group, it was no surprise that the two had opted to use the rifle.

Cove and Marks took shelter behind the various support archways that extended from the ceiling to the floor, the two changing their weapon's settings. "Switching to high power," Cove reported over the team COM, "Amplifying power cell distribution and increasing Tibanna gas outpost, standby."

The addition of more red bolts forced Rex to split his attention away from the COM and to focus on the skirmish waging in front of him. "Bombard, watch the flanks!" The Captain issued the order after noticing that the Sergeant was firing in the centre of the droid formation. The Jedi were advancing on the centre, it was up to them to keep the enemy flanks suppressed.

The Sergeant sent back his acknowledgements, sweeping his carbine around to the left and firing at the droids still closing in. Multiple B1 mechanicals fell under the non-com's onslaught, leaving a large percentage to switch their attention toward the single clone in their sights. Most of the energy projectile passed harmlessly by, two of them, however, impacted into Bombard's stomach and right forearm. A cry of pain emitted from his throat, his carbine clattering to the deck, one arm hanging loosely by his side while the other applied pressure to his blaster wound.

Rex was by his squadmate's side in a flash. He grabbed the wounded non-com and positioned him behind an arch, firing one of his pistols all the while. "Cove, Marks, now would be a really good time to bring out more firepower."

"You're in luck sir," Cove responded, "I've just finished."

"Target the left flank, push these clankers back!"

"One scrap pile coming up," Cove waited until his HUD's targeting reticule was in the right position before squeezing off a bolt. The discharging energy projectile tore through the Separatist combatants with ease, puncturing through droid after droid until it had shredded through an entire file and was left to impact into the far wall. Cove fired three more bolts before his already well used power pack was spent. "I'm out," The Master Corporal reported, tossing away the power pack and reaching for a new one.

"And I'm in," Marks reported, firing on the right side and destroying enough droids to allow their Jedi commanders to rapidly advance on the centre file and take care of the remainder.

"Sergeant, can you move?" Rex asked after the last droid had been dealt with.

"I can sir." The Sergeant replied between gasps of pain, "I'm not exactly combat effective at the moment though."

"Don't worry Bombard," Bypass said with an offered hand to help the non-com stand. "We'll get you patched up as soon as we take the bridge."

The assault group continued advancing forward, with Bombard moving into the middle of their formation. It wasn't long before they reached the bridge, the lone droids standing guard outside were quickly dispatched with Cove and Mark's precise firing. "Let's do this one fast squad," Rex ordered, "Marks I need a thermal charge."

"On it sir," The clone lieutenant said, pulling a single charge from the small pack he'd taken from the assault shuttle. "Setting charge," Marks paused as he placed the explosive on the middle of the door and set the timer to five seconds, "Clear!"

The device went off two seconds after Marks moved away from the door, the thermal by-product melted through the door's magnetic locks, leaving it to slide apart. Anakin and Ashoka stormed in, lightsabers swinging to deflect the answering fire from the battle droid guards stationed inside. Rex pushed forward with discharging dual pistols, behaving very much like his template as he blasted the unarmed mechanicals still in their stations. With backup from Bypass, along with Cove and Marks moving in on the right, the command centre was secure in just under four minutes.

Anakin moved over to the console primarily tasked with ship navigation, kicking the destroyed droid out of the seat and taking his place. The Jedi's fingers moved across the green hued interface, scowling when he noticed the temperature level spiking in the frigate's reactor. "Bypass I need your skills over here, activate the diagnostic system and tell me if this ship is set to explode."

The clone slicer did as ordered, pouring through systems to check for irregularities. "You're right sir," Bypass said after several seconds of silence, "Droids set the self-destruct not long after we were on board. The reactor is reaching danger levels, time to redline is one minute thirty seconds."

"Great," Bombard said dryly from his position by the entrance, a med-kit equipped Cove tending to his wounds. "I'm getting healed just in time to die."

"I'm already working on overriding it General," Bypass continued, pointedly ignoring Bombard's remark, "But they've set-up partial encryptions. I'll need to decode them before I can stop the self-destruct sequence."

"Quickly if you would Bypass," Anakin said, his grip tightening on his clipped lightsaber. "Snips, contact Vibro Squadron. Tell them to finish what they're doing and get inside the port hangar. We're going to lightspeed as soon as Bypass is done."

The Togruta padawan gazed at her Master with a slight frown, her expression clearly showing her doubts about their group surviving and her worry over the possibility of ending the lives of pilots who could retreat back to the planet below. Anakin returned her look with one of fierce determination. Ashoka looked at her master a moment longer before she gave an involuntary smile at his confidence and hurried to comply.

As far as the Jedi Knight was concerned they would make it out of the system alive. Failure was never an option.

-

Six-Four gritted his teeth behind his Phase I helmet, his ARC 170 rocking from the two direct hits he'd sustained to his rear deflector. He shot a look at his scanner, seeing that the last four Vultures had taken to pursuing him. _Talk about luck_, the clone pilot thought with a grimace. "Vibro, I could use some help over here!" Six-Four paused to put his fighter into a port roll, "They're all over me!"

"Understood Grav," Drex responded, "Move to point two decimal zero-zero, we need a better angle."

Grav sent his acknowledgement, angling his fighter so that its bow was moving diagonally towards Drex and the others. Six-Four had been forced to manoeuvre away from his squadron when he had picked up his first pursuer, in order to allow his rear gunner to fire at it without risk of hitting Vibro. Unfortunately, the remaining droids starfighters had noticed the lone 170 and had moved on an intercept course. Grav's rear gunner had managed to destroy three, but the last four had proved more elusive.

More bolts impacted into the 170's deflector, making the protective screen flicker before dying out. "My rear deflector is gone!" Grav shouted, moving his fighter into more evasive manoeuvres. "These droids have left me defenceless! Vibro, where in blazes are you?!"

A storm of bolts was his answer, the green projectiles shredding Six-Four's followers before his fighter could be targeted by the droids again. Grav breathed out a sigh of relief once the enemy signals vanished from his scanning board. He sent his thanks to the rest of his group.

"That's the last of them," The voice of Vibro's squadron leader came through the COM. "General Skywalker has ordered us to land in the frigate. They're making arrangements to prepare for lightspeed."

The three weary groups of pilots reformed and made their way to the port hangar, having an easier time of getting through now that the frigate command centre was under Republic control.

-

Grievous was getting impatient, he knew that it would take fighters a while to hammer away at the deflectors of a Munificent class frigate, but it shouldn't have taken this long. The General strode over to the lower ring of the _Invisible Hand_'s bridge, stopping near the diagnostic area. Two Nemoidians were busy typing away at their respective terminals. One was responsible for monitoring the critical systems of the Providence-class carrier while the other would monitor the status of the ship's secondary systems and its respective squadrons. The former warlord stopped behind the latter, "What is taking the Vulture droids so long?"

The green-skinned trader touched a control to bring up the status of the four squadrons that had launched from the Invisible Hand. The Nemoidian started shaking as he realized he'd just committed a terrible mistake, having been fixated on monitoring the power output of the vessel's primary conduits. "They've been destroyed sir."

A low growl emitted from the cyborg's vocabulator, setting the nearby organic lifeforms on edge. "And you weren't monitoring them?"

"No G—" The rest of the Neimoidian's words were never heard as a powerful durasteel fist plunged through the crewman's head, leaving crimson blood and pieces of bone to splatter all over the console and onto a part of the transparisteel window beyond.

Grievous removed his fist from the Neimoidian's skull, shaking off his hand to dispel pieces of brain tissue. The cyborg turned to the other green-skinned crewer, "Congratulations on your promotion." A slight laugh emanating from the vocabulator, with the General returning to the centre of the bridge. "Navigation, intercept star cruiser two, I want that frigate destroyed."

The Nemoidian crewer instantly complied, having no wish to share the same fate as the former diagnostic worker.

-

"Bypass, what's our status?" Skywalker asked as he mentally counted down to when the reactor would overload. By his count, there was only twenty seconds remaining.

"Almost there," The clone slicer spoke, his fingers rapidly dancing across the panel in front of him. Fifteen seconds passed with everyone present feeling anxious beyond measure. "Got it," Bypass shouted, the relief clearly detectable in his own voice.

"Vibro Squadron is on board Master," Ashoka reported, having anticipated her mentor's query.

Anakin sent her a nod of approval. He turned back to the navigation console in front of him and inputted the coordinates for the fallback site both he and Admiral Yularen had agreed to use, in the event that their battle group needed to retreat and regroup. As the Banking Clan frigate's hyperdrive engaged and the stars warped into starlines, the Jedi hoped the fleet was still there.

-

There was no mistaking the report from the droid manning the _Invisible Hand_'s scanner controls, "General, Star Frigate two has jumped out of the system."

Deathly silence gripped the atmosphere of the bridge, with no-one, not even Captain Dofine daring to speak. "You have the bridge Captain," Grievous responded after a few minutes, his form heading out of the command centre with his IG-100 MagnaGuards trailing behind. "I must inform Lord Sidious."

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**A Neimoidian crewman executed. If I recall correctly, by the time of Episode III, they had all been replaced by droids. So, there's more where that came from, not that I'm planning on working more of those incidents into the story I'm just saying that there are still some of those green-skinned aliens alive....for now.**

**For the curious, this chapter title comes from the term pirates used in the 1700s as a way to rally their crew when boarding a ship, or 'prize.'  
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**By the way, I love all the reviews I got for the last chapter. Oh wait, I never got any. Tsk, tsk. Come on guys, I'm not asking for much. I know how it feels to read a story, thinking that its the best creation since machine guns (or something along those lines) and then moving on to something else. Problem is that the author has no way of knowing what you're thinking. For all I know, the hundred or so of you that read the last chapter thought it sucked. I _do_ make the effort to review other people's stories, isn't it time some of you returned the favour?** **I'm not trying to sound like a whiny mofo but my goal is to continously sharpen my writing abilities and I can't do that if no-one tells me how my writing is. **

**You might say, 'Hey, Spartan IV, you said yourself reviews aren't necessary.' And you'd be right, they are not. Evaluation is always good to have though.  
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**I like criticism.  
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	13. A Predator Returns

**Chapter 13, enjoy.**

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In the darkened areas of a highly urbanized moon, the criminal forces of the underworld thrived. Crime lords competed for control of racketeering, slavery, extortion, and drug operations; utilizing intimidation, bribery, mercenaries, and all out war in their vie for total control. It was on this infamous moon, Nar Shadaa, in the centre of Hutt territory, that the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter since Jango Fett was operating.

The hunter stalked through the halls of a base belonging to crime lord Davith Mavr, dual LL-30 Blaster pistols firing at two guards who had thought they could take out the predator by surprise. They were proven incorrect. The red bolts tore through their flesh in a matter of picoseconds, leaving the bounty hunter to continue his walk without having missed a step. He had been through this very widely spaced corridor many times before as a friendly force, now he was here with the intention to kill. The hunter continued to move toward the large door at the end of the hallway; his prey was close.

A panicking Davith shakily tried to maintain the grip on his disruptor pistol. Fear was rippling through his senses and he couldn't get a hold of himself. He knew what fate awaited him when the infiltrator stepped through the door, particularly since he'd been hiring the intruder for the last week, contracting him with eliminating his competition. The hunter had been far more successful that he had hoped, leaving the crime lord poised to expand out of the darkest depths of the moon.

The door to the crime lord's inner sanctum violently slid apart, cutting off Davith's musings. The four guards he had remaining charged forward, but they only managed to fire off two bolts in the time it took for them to be gunned down, and neither were anywhere near their target. Davith attempted to get control over his swirling emotions long enough to level his pistol, but a lone red bolt shredded through his left leg, forcing the crime lord to abandon such thoughts, his blaster falling to the ground while his hand gripped his wound. The bounty hunter continued moving forward, leaving Davith's fear to amplify with every step the infiltrator took. Despite the intense feelings of fear, Davith tried to talk his way out. "Don't kill me, please! I can double your payment."

"Unlikely," A modulated voice cut in from the shadows, a pair of red eyes narrowing menacingly. "Not even your annual revenue could come close."

Davith's eyes widened at that, he didn't recall making such powerful enemies. "We had a contract Bane!"

The Duros in question stepped forward, just enough to bring his face into light. A sinister smirk etched on his face as he levelled his right side-arm at Davith's head. "I found a better one," Cad Bane responded. The discharging red bolt erupted from his pistol not long after, impacting into the crime lord's head and leaving his life-less form to slump to the ground.

-

"I've completed your task." Bane's words were directed towards the small hologram projector placed on the desk of his Nar Shadaa safe house.

The moon held many secrets, including hidden passages concealed in areas where few dared to tread. It was in one such spot that the male Duros had funded the construction of one of his favourite retreats, a base with the most advanced equipment available. Tracking stations assisted in monitoring potential bounties, while high security software controlled the various auto-defence turrets concealed throughout the facility as well as the installed scanners that would attack anyone who did not match the bounty hunter's profile. With magnetic sealed entrances and multiple planned escape routes, Bane felt it was one of his more secure areas. Of course, there was more than just security instalments present, blaster ranges and obstacle courses had been installed to help Bane maintain his already considerable skills while simple entertainments, such as a holo-net news feed, kept the hunter up to date on galactic events.

"I've already heard," Bane's client replied. The sentient was clearly a male, the hood he wore obscured his face, but the unique clothing and armour combination he favoured in his apparel revealed a male humanoid physique. It was easy to surmise that he was an individual of wealth and power; every time he contacted Bane the reward was more lucrative than the last. "Transfer of the agreed payment will begin once I have confirmed Davith's death."

The Duros nodded, the man was always seeking confirmation before paying. It was a practice most clients didn't partake in, particularly since most people never wanted to give a reason for an assassin to come after them. The fact that this man didn't care meant he was either very well protected, or very foolish. Given the snippets of personality that Bane had been able to detect, he firmly believed the cause to be the former. "Then our business is concluded," The bounty hunter said, a slender finger moving to the cut-off switch.

"Yes," The man stated slowly, his tone becoming slightly malicious, "For now."

Bane felt a small sense of uneasiness stir within him at the man's words, though a bounty hunter of his years was more than able to keep his expression impassive as he cut the transmission. His client could confirm all he wanted, as long as he paid what he promised, he and Bane wouldn't have a problem.

The Duros turned to his discarded gear strewn about on the table behind him. He picked up one of his LL-30 pistols, ensuring the safety was on before removing the weapon's power pack and gas cartridge and reaching for the cleaning kit he had left nearby. A blaster bolt was formed by three important components; blaster gas, a power pack, and an actuating module. When fired, the blaster gas moved to the power pack allowing it to be energized; from there it passed on to the actuating module where it was magnetically compressed, a process that forcibly rearranged the energized gaseous atoms into a linear pattern, creating a compressed beam of energy particles commonly known as a 'blaster bolt.' Over-time this resulted in a build-up of heat in the blaster's barrel and a slow build-up of waste particles in the chamber. The former was controlled through special alloys lining the barrel while the latter was countered by a hand-held micro-extractor. Such was the tool that Bane withdrew from his cleaning kit.

He disassembled both of his pistols, laying them down to their bare components. The upper and lower receivers were detached, effectively splitting the side-arms in half. Bane turned on the micro-extractor and began passing the device through his weapons, picking up the trace amounts of particles that were left behind in the chamber of both pistols. Maintenance of blasters was recommended every week, as this was the time when a continuously used weapon would have a build-up of particles large enough to noticeably impede the weapon's firing rate. Bane, however, found that even a day's worth of particle build-up hindered his weapon's effectiveness, even if the firing rate was only reduced by several milliseconds. It was the type of thing only noticeable to veteran weapon users. Even so, most would follow the standard rule. Those individuals did not have to deal with Jedi, however, and Bane had engaged enough to know that any delay, even one of several milliseconds, could result in death.

The Bounty Hunter was interrupted by the soft pinging coming from the holo-projector on his desk. Only Bane's wealthier clients had the means to reach him at such a location, the promise of a larger pay-out being the only thing that warranted disruption to the Duros. His COM codes contained some of the best encryptions known in the galaxy, rivalling those of high-security military bases, so Bane wasn't worried about eaves-droppers or slicers. The hunter accepted the call, to be met by the shimmering projection of a man he had worked for before. His entire form was clad in a cloak of some sort, with a hood that shielded the entire face. "If you're done working for your underworld contacts," The man spoke with a strong malicious undertone that showed his clear displeasure at having to wait, "I have a task for you."

Bane felt a strong sense of fear as soon as the figure spoke. The only thing the Duros knew about him was that he was a Sith Lord, and only that was because the client had divulged that information himself, once Bane had asked why his contracts always seemed to involve Jedi. It was this complete lack of knowledge, and the fact that he seemed to have access to a star system's worth of funds, that made Bane feel a strong sense of fear. "And what would that be?" Cad asked, his red eyes gazing at his client.

"I need two individuals transported from Tantro."

The mission sounded simple enough. At least it would, if the Duros didn't know that Tantro, a moon of the core world Bessimir, was home to a Republic prisoner of war facility. After Bane had kidnapped a group of Senators on Coruscant, in order to ensure that Ziro the Hutt was freed from the planetary detention facility, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had commissioned the conversion of an old maximum security prison on the moon's surface into a prisoner of war encampment for captured Separatists. It was a place for them to stay until they could be shipped to Coruscant for trial by the Galactic Courts.

"But Tantro is home to a Republic prisoner of war facility," Bane protested, "Breaking in there would be suicide."

The Dark Lord of the Sith regarded the Bounty Hunter for a long moment in silence, testing Bane's ability to keep his outward expression neutral while his heart rate increased and his insides squirmed for him to placate the man in front of him. "I'll raise your payment to one million credits," Darth Sidious spoke after a few tense minutes, "Along with a few items to assist you in completing this task."

A wide grin found its way onto the Duros' mouth, he could do a lot with a million. "I'll do it," He stated slowly, "Who exactly am I after?"

"Techno Union Foreman Wat Tambor and the Genosian Archduke, Poggle the Lesser. That price, however," Sidious' tone abruptly cold. "Only stands if _both_ are freed."

The hunter could feel his fear amplifying at the Sith Lord's tone, but he somehow found the will to retain his outlying composure. "Don't trust me?" Bane spoke, forcing a slight smirk.

"Considering what happened the last time I gave you an assignment, this is my guarantee you will complete the task in its _entirety_. It would not be wise to fail again." The Dark Lord's tone had grown increasingly colder the more he spoke, making Bane flinch involuntarily.

"The Jedi got in my way last time," The Duros spoke defensively, "It won't happen again."

"I hope not, Bounty Hunter," Sidious said with a slight snarl, "For your sake."

The Dark Lord's hologram vanished soon after, leaving Bane to exhale in slight relief.

Four hours passed, a time span sufficient enough for Bane to finish cleaning his weapons and conduct two runs through this installed training simulators. With the simulated weapons being set to stun, the Duros didn't have to worry about being wounded. All the same, the electrical shock from the stun blaster would render its target unconscious for a standard hour, something that was avoided with nearly as much caution as the stun's deadly laser counterparts.

A faint ping stirred the hunter from his relaxation. Bane moved toward the source of the disruption, an uplink station next to his desk's holoprojector. Rather than allow personal contact with his clients, the terminal was designed to receive encrypted burst transmissions on a very specific frequency; a frequency only Bane's contacts had access to. The Bounty Hunter keyed in his access codes on the terminal and downloaded the message onto his datapad. A detailed map of the prisoner of war facility on Tantro, a schedule of supply convoys arriving in-system, and another piece of unidentifiable data were the sole contents of the transmission. Moving over to his holoprojector, Bane uploaded the map into the projector's databanks. A shimmering blue outline of the facility in question appeared before the Bounty Hunter, who took a seat and started examining the object more closely.

The facility was clearly well defended, the majority of the structure having been excavated underground. The complex's sole entrance was embedded into a man-made break in a rock-face that sprouted from a wide plain. Various auto-turret defences and garrisoned forces guarded the main entrance, while patrols made regular sweeps of the perimeter. A landing zone had been constructed just on the edge of the complex's perimeter and, from the shipping timetable Bane had been given, the hunter could tell that a small convoy of supply ships arrived every three weeks, their cargo loaded with equipment, foodstuffs, along with an addition of fresh soldiers to continually rotate a third of the garrison.

Turning his gaze back toward the facility itself, the Duros tapped a key on the small holo-projector. The outside view faded away and was replaced by the blueprints of the building's interior. The first level was only deep enough to accommodate a few security checkpoints and a lift that moved a hundred metres below to the first underground level. The first sub-terrain layer held the first of the facility's inmates, the few in the Separatist Military to have non-commissioned status along with the junior officers. A hundred metres further below, the next section held the captured combatants with the rank of Lieutenant to Captain. The segment after that housed the generals and admirals of the CIS.

It was the very last underground chasm that interested the Bounty Hunter, however, as it held his two targets, Wat Tambor and Poggle the Lesser. The area was little more than a long t-shaped corridor, with both prisoners occupying separate cells at either end. Accompanying schedules of guard activity revealed that sentries took rotating shifts to ensure that their two prisoners were under constant watch. No contact between the two was permitted and neither was allowed to leave their rather spacious cells for anything short of a medical emergency. Anything entering was triple scanned, be it food, equipment, or the guards themselves.

Despite the intense security and the high probability against success, a small grin formed on Bane's mouth, stretching wider as his idea formed into a plan. There was a high risk involved, even if everything went by design. But, as the Duros shut off the holoprojector and tucked his datapad into his tunic, his form heading toward the moon's docking bay, he knew that risks were synonymous with his profession.

-

It took four days to travel to the core world Bessimir, a time that gave the hunter ample opportunity to perfect his plan. Cad Bane arrived with his ship's sensor jammers online, careful not to let his vessel appear on enemy scans. Less than ten parsecs from the Republic capital, Bessimir served a key strategic position, both as a training ground for the Grand Army and as a key part of the Republic early warning system network, codenamed Vindico; both of which were stationed on Bessimir itself. From orbit, the planetoid was a mix of gray, green, white, and blue, representing the urbanized, forested, snow covered, and oceanic sections of the planet, with green remaining the undisputed dominant. Three moons endlessly circled Bessimir, two of which held populations akin to that of colonies. It was the smallest of the three that interested Bane, its sole structure being the prisoner of war facility.

A quick scan by Bane revealed a small nebula just 20,000 kilometres from Tantro. The gaseous anomaly reduced sensor effectiveness to one thousand metres, something the Duros experienced first hand, piloting his custom fitted Telgorn-class dropship, _Sleight of Hand_, into the middle of the nebula before cutting power to the engines. From the schedule the Bounty Hunter had received from his client, he knew that a shipment of supply ships was due to rendezvous at Tantro within the next few hours. With all the information the Sith Lord had obtained, Bane strongly believed his client contacted him not only to complete tasks for him but to assess the Duros' skills. The hunter had a rising suspicion that he was being prepared for a task, and if it was coming from one of the more demanding clients the Bounty Hunter had ever been contacted by it was sure to be as dangerous as it was profitable.

Frustrated at his own distraction, Cad shook his head to dispel his thoughts; he needed to concentrate if he was going to complete his mission. He re-checked his onboard chronometer; he still had an hour to wait before the prison supply ship arrived. Nestled in the heart of a nebula, even one with a short span of five kilometres, the Duros was confident he would remain undetected. His Telgorn dropship featured only the latest in equipment. Its wide rectangular design was fitted with everything from an enhanced deflector screen to a cloaking device. The ship had been one of the first purchases Cad had made as a Bounty Hunter and he had taken steps to modify it after receiving large payments. The fact that the ship was so heavily modified was a testament to just how long Bane had been in his chosen profession. The vessel had served the Duros well in the past and he knew it would serve him well here; its very equipment was essential for the first phase of his plan.

Once the supply ship arrived in-system, Bane would emerge from the nebula. With his ship's cloaking enabled his dropship wouldn't register on enemy scanner boards, since any scan would pass through the ship. There was a drawback, however, a cloaked ship's own sensors were just as useless as the enemy's. This was the main reason why such a system was only in small craft, such as starfighters, where the pilot could judge distance for himself. Anything larger was more likely to crash into an obstacle. Once Bane was close enough to the supply ship, he would dock on its ventral side. Easily the most difficult part, the Bounty Hunter would have to judge an intercept course and manoeuvre his ship to dock on the unsuspecting Republic vessel. It would be easier to just land on Tantro, but Cad's first scan had revealed an energy shield covering the perimeter of the POW facility. While it was likely that the Bounty Hunter could slip behind the ship, there was also a possibility that the shield would close the second the Republic ship was inside. Given how tight security was inside the facility itself, the Duros was willing to bet that the shield's control responded to the transponder frequency of only a few select ships and, if that was the case, docking with the supply ship would be the only way in.

Satisfied he had the first phase of his infiltration nailed to a fine art, Bane moved out of the cockpit of _Sleight of Hand_ and towards the cargo hold of the ship. Converted from what would otherwise have been a standby area for troops, the area had been refurbished to act as both a command centre and a detention area. Consoles and terminals lay strewn about across the deck, acting as databases and emergency back-up modules for the ship's primary systems. Two detention cells occupied the far end, their spaces large enough to allow Bane to throw multiple bounties into one cell if he was so forced.

The Duros moved to one of the small tables, positioned in-between two terminals, and picked up the items he'd left there. Flash, gas, and plasma grenades were spread out along the surface along with thermal detonators and spare power and gas packs for Bane's LL-30 blaster pistols. The hunter retrieved as much of the gear as he could, making sure to take at least one of every type of grenade. While his primary goal was to remain a ghost in his infiltration, Bane was never one to oppose a contingency plan. If he had to make a bit more noise to complete his assignment, then he would. In addition to the combat gear, a small chip and a holodisc were present as well. The disc was another gift from his Sith Lord benefactor. The data sent to his Nar Shardaa safe house, that the Bounty Hunter had been unable to identify at the time, turned out to be a credential chip, it was an item typically required for soldiers to gain access to high security areas. The small chip was a device of Bane's own design, one that he had based off pre-existing template. It was an electronic disruptor chip, essentially a portable jammer that would render scanners useless in a small radius around the user. Both were essential parts of the plan's foundation, without which, everything would collapse.

Cad Bane checked his equipment briefly, ensuring it was in pristine condition. With his inspection complete and his gear stored both on his belt and within his tunic, the Hunter returned to the cockpit of his ship and settled for waiting.

A loud beep from the _Sleight of Hand_'s scanner board was the Bounty Hunter's only warning before a Republic supply ship arrived in-system. The ship was a Purgatory-class heavy cargo ship, the type favoured by the Republic as prison vessels, its stream-lined bow leading to a bulky middle that served as the vessel's cargo hold. The ship slowly moved toward the moon, leaving Bane to do likewise, his engines operating at twenty percent. "Here we go," Bane muttered to himself, mentally calculating the course required to intercept the supply ship.

He turned the Telgorn-class ship to the left, his ship angling on a fifty degree diagonal vector in relation to the Republic vessel, his engines operating at forty percent of maximum. The smaller vessel manoeuvred under its larger target, the engines cutting out while the Duros pilot relied on the craft's inertia to take him to the docking site. A quick burst from the craft's thrusters allowed the _Sleight of Hand_ to get within one metre of the supply ship, the extension of the craft's magnetic locks closed remainder of the distance between the two craft, essentially fusing the dropship to the supply ship's hall.

The Bounty Hunter exhaled slightly, the only outward sign of his relief. He watched through the transparisteel windows of the cockpit as the moon's surface slowly appeared closer, the orbital view turning to one of high-altitude. Two structures came into view; a landing strip was positioned on a raised platform stationed on the south-east of the POW perimeter, while the facility itself was two hundred metres away; its small structure barley recognizable next to the rock face where it had been erected. Its colour was a near perfect blend to its surroundings, so much so that even Bane, a seasoned Bounty Hunter, felt he would have missed it, were it not for the distant figures moving around the outside.

Any further observations were cut off with the _Sleight of Hand_'s display board showing an energy field nine hundred metres in front of his ship. The Bounty Hunter watched with a rising feeling of anxiety as the distance began to close. At fifty metres, the Duros found his eyes fixated on the display screen. Bane nodded in satisfaction as his ship passed through it, the shield having opened just enough to allow his vessel to move through. The hunter waited for the entire Purgatory-class vessel to move through the shield before detaching from his escort and manoeuvring his Telgorn-class ship into a small clearing located outside the POW facility, at a distance that allowed Bane to push to his objective quickly while still able to prevent his ship from being seen by the various patrols combing through the area. Landing a cloaked ship was never recommended, but the Duros was unwilling to reveal the _Sleight of Hand_ until the vessel touched down on Tantro's surface with enough force to jolt a seated Bane.

The blue skinned sentient deactivated his dropship's cloaking generator and switched it for the vessel's security system, locking down every system and tying it to the master interface. The dropship's security equipment featured a multiplex string of interlaced code that would take even a team of top slicers a week to break apart. The encryption was voice-locked and only wavered to the specific frequency of Bane's modulated voice; he had learned from his own experiments that standard recorders distorted his voice enough that the voice-lock would remain. Still, droids could mimic voices precisely and so Bane took care to change the verbal confirmation code regularly.

"Initiate system lockdown," Bane spoke once he had tied all systems to the master interface, "Voice print ID Gamma Two Sigma Four."

After a quick glance at the display screen to ensure that system control was actively encrypted, Bane extracted himself from his craft, exiting via a small ramp on the side. He squinted once the sunlight made contact with his retina. He had chosen to forgo using his wide-brimmed hat and external breathing pack, leaving him no shade against the bright sun. Once the Duros was able to see without squinting, he surveyed the area. The clearing seemed smaller than it had from above, Bane was pleased to note that there was still more than enough space to shield his ship from the sides. The undergrowth in the forest was thick enough that patrols would need to get within ten metres in order to make a visual confirmation. Since the edge of the POW base's perimeter was three hundred metres away, and since the patrols from that area wouldn't risk wandering too far from their designated routes, Bane was confident his ship's location would remain safe. Satisfied with his choice of landing zone, the Duros moved in the direction of his next objective.

Bane crouched near the edge of the POW perimeter, his brown-shaded clothing allowing him to blend seamlessly amongst the tree trunks and various roots spreading through the area. He'd been in the same position for an hour, noting the movements of the various patrols, looking for any discernible pattern. The Bounty Hunter could only detect the interval in-between the direction switches that the patrol groups would take, it was a tactic designed to catch infiltrator off guard with the Republic sentries continuously rotating between moving clock-wise to counter-clockwise or vice versa.

The confirmation of the presence of Senate Commandos had come as a bit of a surprise to the veteran mercenary, he'd expected clone to be the garrison here. The purple and white coloured phase I armour was rarely seen outside the senate building, let alone Courscant. While the commandos were formidable in their own right, Bane had engaged enough to know that the clone troopers were more deserving of respect.

Still, Bane wasn't about to charge out and fire blindly. He'd studied patrol movements enough to know he had only a few opportunities to strike. The Duros' red irises flicked to the left and right, settling on two groups that were moving toward each other. The hunter tensed in his movements, one hand resting on a holstered blaster pistol while another gripped a flash grenade on his belt. The spherical device had a three second timer that, once finished, sent an electrical pulse to the body of the grenade, allowing the two chemicals stored inside to react. The result was a bright flash for one second, temporarily blinding and disorientating any who had laid eyes on it for several seconds.

Cad Bane put the approaching group numbers at six, so he knew he'd have to move quickly to neutralize them without alerting the other groups. The Duros removed the grenade, two fingers lightly touching the activation switch while he gazed at the two patrols in front of him. When the groups were ten metres apart, the Bounty Hunter decided it was close enough. He threw the grenade after activating its timer, launching it in the middle of the two. The device went off with a pop, its brief flash disorientating those around it. The commandos staggered, trying to regain both their vision and their sense of equilibrium. Bane was already advancing, however, his right blaster pistol firing rampantly, its red bolt payload striking its targets in the centre of mass, shredding through armour and the flesh beneath.

Three were down in quick succession, with another two shot as they tried to level their weapons at a hazy image of an attacking Duros. The last was thrown to the ground, his helmet ripped off by slender fingers. Before the commando could react, the hunter dragged his struggling prey inside the forest and pinned him against the nearest tree. The Republic soldier managed to punch his attacker twice before he was violently kneed in the stomach. The commando slumped, his chest heaving as he tried to suck in desperately needed oxygen. His laboured breathing turned to gurgling noises as a hand clamped down on his throat. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll consider not snapping your neck."

The commando's only response was a gurgled obscenity with the recipient Duros squeezing harder in respone. "Now, now," Bane mocked with a sinister smirk on his face, "There's no need for such language. All I want is information." The smirk turned to one malice, a threatening growl erupting from Bane's throat. "What type of scanners do you have at your checkpoints?"

Fearful of the enraged mercenary gripping his neck, the commando responded through gasps of air, "Bio…metric…..and…e-electronic."

"Good," The hunter replied, his recently holstered blaster pistol returning to his grasp. A single bolt was fired before the soldier could do anything but adopt a look of immense of fear. "I thank you for your co-operation," Bane said as he released his grip from the commando's life less form.

Knowing he had a limited amount of time before the patrols found the dead, the Bounty Hunter moved back into the clearing and dragged the fallen commandos into the cover of vegetation, along with their weapons. He managed to be quick enough that he succeeded in pulling the corpses about fifty metres within the forest by the time the next group moved by the area. The commandos paused for a moment, scanning the edge of the woodland. Bane, crouching just twelve metres from the sentries, took aim with his blaster pistols, his fingers hovering near the weapon's triggers, a calculating eye scanning the armoured sentries and looking for any hint of hostile intent.

After a few minutes, the Senate soldiers moved away, leaving Bane to return to the corpse of his last kill. The Bounty Hunter stripped the armour off the dead soldier, placing it by the already discarded helmet. The mercenary placed the captured armour over his tunic, making a point of deactivating his wrist-gauntlets before attaching the forearms sections. The seasoned hunter reluctantly attached his LL-30 blaster pistols to the chest piece of his armour with the help of magnetic locks. Once the disguise was properly fitted, Bane ensured the stripped corpse was perfectly hidden and separated from the rest. In the unlikely event that a patrol managed to locate the armoured corpses, the worst that would happen would be a more alert garrison. The discovery of a stripped corpse, however, would trigger a more thorough scanning of personnel that could result in anything from a stealth breach to a complete mission failure, neither of which would be ideal for the Bounty Hunter's task. The Duros took one last look around to ensure the bodies were well hidden. Satisfied, he moved toward the compound entrance.

It took fifteen minutes for Bane to reach the POW facility. The mercenary had made good time despite the fact that he had to navigate his way in the general pathway of the patrol routes, while taking pains to put adequate distance between other patrols. The commandos positioned by the entrance gazed at him as he approached. A raised hand from a commando Captain halted his advance. "Credentials?" The officer queried with nothing short of a demanding tone.

Withdrawing the holodisc containing the data given to him by his client, the Duros handed it to the squad leader. The Captain transferred the contents on the disc to his datapad, returning the item after a moment with a nod to Bane. "Everything checks out. You may proceed."

Inclining his head in acknowledgement, Bane placed the disc back in the right front pouch of his captured utility belt and moved toward the blast doors. The heavily armoured entry way slowly moved apart, giving the Bounty Hunter a glimpse of what was inside. A short corridor was the first thing to catch his attention, its width and length just enough to accommodate two security checkpoints. The square shaped areas were separated by ten metres, energy fields functioned like path markers, guiding those that entered toward the centre. Four more commandos stood guard outside the first checkpoint; an archway gave way to a small room, with a door on the other side.

At the Bounty Hunter's approach, the checkpoint sentry verified his credentials once more, made him surrender his DC-15S, then ushered him into the small room beyond. One of the commandos moved to block the entrance as Bane stepped in. Wall mounted projectors moved in a panning motion up and down his body. The mercenary didn't need to scrutinize them for long to know that they were the biometric scanners he had been informed of earlier. Biometric systems were able to register the profile of individual people, recording everything from height to skeletal structure. Developed by MerSonn, the scanners were ideal for high-security areas where few people had access. The electronic disruptor chip in Bane's utility belt, however, negated such an advantage, its jammers shielded the hunter from the biometric scans, forcing its display screen to show a green light since it didn't register anyone in its midst.

With the first checkpoint cleared, the commando holding his DC-15S escorted him to the next area. Only two commandos stood by the next checkpoint, one stood by the terminal that controlled the scanners beyond while the other merely followed the newcomer's movements. Bane stepped into the small chamber again, standing still while the scanners moved up and down. The devices were designed to detect abnormalities outside of a defined parameter. In this case, it would seek out any foreign objects that the commandos were not meant to carry. The disruptor chip proved its worth once more, its portable jammer rendering the sensors useless and clearing the Bounty Hunter for access to the lift beyond, his DC-15S handed to him on his way out.

The disguised mercenary stepped into the service lift that was large enough to fit a squad of soldiers and keyed for a descent to the last listed section, the third underground level. The doors slid shut and Bane felt the platform rapidly plummet into the ground below. Ten minutes passed until the lift finally ground to a halt. The Bounty Hunter moved out, coming to the level that housed the military leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Bane was forced to submit to another series of security scans, twice as many on this level. Once cleared, the large blast door marking the location to the prison area itself started to open.

An enormous chasm greeted the Duros' sight, with three levels of detention cells placed in the area. On the ground floor the shimmering energy fields were active in a large number of cells with commando guards moving to and fro. A small metal staircase jutted out from the middle of the ground floor, connecting to the catwalk that acted as a floor for the second level. Another staircase branched from there to the catwalk on the third level. Various structural supports ran along the ceiling and walls of the hallowed out planetoid. A clustered section of supports above the third level caught Bane's eyes; they were attached to a small U-shaped structure. He saw a ramp lead up to it, with a commando opening a door and stepping inside. Noting that the structures overlooked the chasm itself, the Bounty Hunter was willing to guess that it was either a control room or simply an observation area.

His next destination clear, the Duros moved to the control room, his carbine held in a port arms position while his red irises flicked to occupied detention cells. He recognized none of the faces. Knowing they were no more bounties to be made, he didn't spare them a second glance as he stepped into the U-shaped structure he'd seen earlier. A wide array of terminals, consoles, and display boards were the most prominent features of the room, with screens displaying everything from power levels on detention cells to video feed at checkpoint security. Transparisteel windows were positioned next to the door, allowing the three commandos stationed there to watch the cells below. The Bounty Hunter moved down the first row as if he were continuing his appointed rounds, though his eyes scanned the equipment beside him as he searched for a security system he could sabotage.

The Duros moved down the rows, stopping when he came to a cluster of monitors displaying video feed from checkpoint security on every level on the facility with another two cameras devoted entirely to the sentients he'd been assigned to free. The station was occupied by a lone commando, whose sole focus was on the displays in front of him. The mercenary glanced to the side, knowing he would have to kill the worker; he searched for a safe area to dispose of him. A gap in two large terminals provided him with an opportunity he wasn't about to waste. A quick survey of the area revealed no-one else in the immediate vicinity, leaving Bane free to approach his unsuspecting prey. The Duros was quick in his actions, his right arm snapped across the man's chest, pinning his upper arm against his side and shooting across his throat to grab his left wrist. He just as quickly tore off his helmet with the handle of his captured carbine and then pressed the barrel of the DC-15S into the man's skull, and lifted him out of his chair.

The sheer shock the commandos was facing at being attacked in one of the most secure locations in the Republic kept him quiet, his form involuntarily shaking with fear at the thought of what kind of sentient could perform such a feat.

"When I ask you a question," The Duros' cold voice whispered to the soldier, "You will speak at this volume. Do you understand?" The carbine pressed harder against the commando's head to silently convey the implications of refusal.

Too fearful to think rationally, the soldier whispered back, "Yes."

"Good, I'm looking for the facility's main reactor. It would be in your best interests to make my search go faster."

"It…its past this room, straight to the first junction, then left."

"Your compliance is appreciated," Bane replied, his carbine withdrawing from the Republic soldier's head.

The Senate protector breathed a sigh of relief at the weapon's disappearance, feeling as though he would escape the interrogation with his life. The feeling of two hands gripping his face made his eyes widen in fear. Before the soldier could do anything, however, the grip on his skull tightened and his head spun far past its ninety degree limit. Bane revelled in the sickening crack as the corpse slumped to the ground. Moving as swiftly and silently as possible, the mercenary dragged his victim into the shadows cast by the two large terminals he'd spotted earlier. After a check to ensure the body was well hidden to even the most observant workers, Bane moved to the security monitors. He removed the armour piece on his right forearm and activated his gauntlet beneath. A short burst transmission from the camera control terminal uploaded the specific frequency of the facility's cameras, putting the Bounty Hunter in control of the facility's recording equipment.

Bane moved out of the security room not long after, stalking through the adjoining corridor toward his next objective. Few others were moving through this part of the complex, a fact that didn't surprise the mercenary in the slightest, the majority of security seemingly centred around keeping the prisoners contained. The concept of having someone infiltrate the complex seemed to more of an afterthought.

The mercenary continued his advance, navigating his way just as the interrogated soldier had specified. It didn't take very long for Bane to see a small door at the end of a long hallway. A wall mounted encrypted panel was the only obstacle barring his entry, one that was removed through the use of the electrical projectors stored in his gauntlets. The circuitry could only stand the assault for a handful of seconds, the system eventually shorting out and allowing the Duros to step into the room beyond. The area was only large enough to accommodate the circular shaped hypermatter reactor and the various conduits that branched off from the core, transporting energy throughout the complex.

Cad Bane withdrew three of the plasma grenades he'd taken with him and attached them to the reactor, taking care to ensure there was adequate space between them. The Bounty Hunter tied the detonation controls to his gauntlet and then proceeded out of the security wing and toward the lift that only gave access to the deepest level, the one that contained the Separatist council members.

The Duros stepped out of the last lift to find himself facing a large number of commandos. Twelve of the Republic soldiers gazed at Bane as he stepped toward another scanning line, his DC-15S handed over once more. Two soldiers stepped forward, handheld scanners clutched in their grasp as they swept the equipment over Bane's form. A sharp beep from the scanners made everyone present tense. Bane didn't need to check the electronic disruptor to know that the experimental piece of technology had either been damaged or had lost power.

Bane's mind raced to take in his options. There were twelve commandos in the immediate area, with the possibility of more patrolling near the Separatist council member's cells. Given the fact that he had just surrendered his readily available weapon, he would have to act fast while he still had the element of surprise. The mercenary tapped a button on his hidden gauntlet, freezing the security cameras and looping the last available image. The Bounty Hunter struck out against the closest commando, an open palm driving hard against his chest and sending him backward a few metres. Before the commando's body hit the floor, the Duros was already moving toward the next. A DC-15S was being brought up, its barrel only centimetres away from aiming at his chest. Blue fingers grasped the weapon and pointed it away from his person while his right leg impacted its target in the centre of mass, sending him sprawling backward.

The mercenary righted his captured carbine and opened fire. Blue bolts tore through another commando, shredding through the armour plating and cauterizing the flesh beneath. With the third soldier's death, the remainder were more than ready to return fire. The storm of blue bolts forced Bane to retreat back to the elevator, his movements changing into elaborate side-steps in his attempt to evade enemy fire. A burst of bolts was heading straight for Bane's form; the Duros moved to avoid them but only succeeded in dodging four of the five. The last was heading toward Bane's chest, only to be stopped by the elevator's closing doors.

Acting fast, Bane withdrew his hidden blaster pistols and holstered them on his utility belt and selected a flash grenade and thermal detonator. The former was thrown into the hallway detention corridor as soon as the lift doors parted. Cries of warning were issued by the commandos beyond, a bright flash following the yells. The Bounty Hunter threw the thermal detonator in next, leaving those who had avoided the flash grenade to be exposed to the explosive blast with a force powerful enough to throw them back. Those who weren't scorched or disorientated were killed by discharging blue bolts once the mercenary moved back into the corridor. Commandos staggered in the wake of the assault. The Duros pressed his advantage, his carbine firing rampantly at anyone still moving. Two soldiers converged on the middle section, each one coming from the two adjoining hallways in the detention cell block.

One of the newcomers activated his COM, something Bane could hear from the communication software built into his capture armour. The hunter snapped his attention to the commando positioned at the junction area in the cell block, his posture making it clear that he was trying to give himself some protection from the firefight while he called for reinforcements. The Duros wasn't willing to give the chance, he took aim with his carbine and depressed the trigger, but was met with a simple click. Realizing the power pack had been depleted and mindful of the fact that he had to act quickly, Bane tossed his captured DC-15 at the soldier. It arced through the air and connected against the commando's faceplate with a thud, making the soldier stumble and cut him off after only saying a phrase. The Bounty Hunter had already withdrawn his pistols after throwing the carbine, the discharging red bolts impacting into the commando mere seconds after the carbine made contact with his helmet. Red bolts left no opposition in their wake, the ammunition shredding through Phase I armour after two shots. Another series of bursts was all it took to put the most secure underground level of the Tantro prisoner of war facility under Bane's control.

"Control to Four-One, I need a sit-rep!"

The COM call issuing from Bane's helmet made him freeze for a moment. He had thought he had dealt with the commandos before any warnings could be issued.

"Four-One, shots have been heard, come in!"

The Bounty Hunter scowled, of course he may have killed the commando before he could finish a sentence, but the man's COM channel would have still been open.

"Three-One, this is Control, lost contact with Four. Investigate and report."

"Roger Control, I'm sending a squad."

"Copy, Control out."

Bane's scowl deepened, the last thing he needed was the entire garrison bearing down on him. "Good thing I always come prepared," Bane muttered to himself, a small smile forming on his face. "Let's start a riot," The Duros said as he detonated the plasma charges on the reactor.

A small quake could be felt throughout the facility, the power flickering out with the reactor's explosion. The COM chatter of the commandos became frantic.

"Containment breach! Cells on level three are shutting down!"

"Level two is losing power, prisoners are escaping!"

"Control request permission for lethal force, level one cells are offline!"

"This is Control, do not resort to lethal force, say again, no sleepers! Subdue them. Three, send a squad to get the power back on!"

"That's a negative Control. We've got our own problems right now!"

The Bounty Hunter smirked while he removed the captured armour from his person. His species was able to see farther into the infrared spectrum than most, while nowhere near as adept as the Trandoshans at seeing in complete darkness, Bane was able to make out the forms of his two targets, Emir Tambor and Poggle the Lesser, in the dull glow of the facility's emergency back-up lights. The two moved cautiously through the darkened corridor, not quite believing their luck. "Greetings Councillors," Bane said once they were close enough.

The two were startled by the voice from the darkness, but it was Tambor who spoke first. "And you are?"

"My name is not your concern," Bane spoke dismissively. "My client has tasked me with transporting you both back to Separatist space."

"I knew he'd come through for us," Tambor said with Poggle making a noise that seemed to resemble agreement in his own dialect.

Unaware of who the two were referring to, Bane simply made his way back to the elevator, the two councillors following behind. The lift opened one the third level and the Duros could see that the commandos were hard pressed to end the riot. The former leaders of the Separatist military were doing an admirable job of performing the grunt work they themselves had so often only ordered from afar. Captured DC-15 model weaponry was used to great effect against the prisoner's captors, forcing the commandos to retreat toward the service lift. A respectable amount of the Senate protectors were cut-off from the main group and isolated on the catwalks. The prisoners showed them no mercy, engaging them in both ranged and melee combat. Many of the commandos were thrown from the metal walkways, their screams ending as abruptly as their bodies impacted into the ground.

"We're heading to the security room," Bane said, his red irises still fixated on the scene playing out in front of him He turned to the Councillors with a small smirk on his face. "You're worth a lot, so don't die."

Not expecting a response, Bane led his two bounties toward the complex's security room. One of the prisoners caught sight of him just outside the security room and, in his adrenaline rush, fired his weapon. Bane ducked to avoid the bolt, glad that Tambor and Poggle had spread out far enough that they were not in the line of fire. Dual shots from the Duros' left LL-30 pistol discharged in retaliation. The shots impacted into the target's head, ending his live in a matter of microseconds. The remaining officer levelled their captured weapons but Bane only holstered his pistol. "Is this how you thank your rescuer?" He inquired dryly, "Or how you thank the one responsible for freeing your leaders," His hand gesturing toward Tambor and Poggle.

The prisoners immediately lowered their weapons, offering sputtered apologies. Bane briefly considered gunning them all down, but decided against it. It wouldn't paint a good picture for the Separatist leaders, making them all the more likely to not follow him to safety. He wasn't above knocking them unconscious and dragging them to his destination, but he wasn't about to make his job more difficult if it could be avoided. The Bounty Hunter moved through the now abandoned security room, taking a route he'd memorized from his studies of the map his benefactor had provided him with. Other than the entrance to the compound on the surface, the Republic had created a secondary exit in the case of emergencies. A small hangar had been created on the fourth level, a sloping tunnel connecting it to the surface. The blueprints for the map he'd been given listed it as an escape route to be taken by both commandos and the more high-risk prisoners in the case of an evacuation.

The mercenary led the way through the winding corridors to the back of the security wing. A large door at the end of a short corridor presented Bane with the hangar entrance. Feeling impatient, Bane used his remaining thermal detonators to blow a hole in the door. Once a significant portion of the door collapsed, the hunter stepped through the doorway and caught sight of a ship that resembled a cargo freighter parked on a small platform. The Bounty Hunter and his quarry boarded the ship and took off toward the surface, the blast door coverings on the exit opening automatically at the ship's approach. Bane guided the ship in a landing toward the clearing where his Telgorn dropship still rested.

"What are you doing?!" Tambor asked from the co-pilot's seat, his voice, modified though it was, sounded on the verge of panic. Poggle's agitated insectoid dialect only added to Bane's anger at being questioned by merchants.

"I'm not about to depart this rock without my ship," The Duro's cold tone more than successful in quieting the councillors.

Bane took the time to set the ship's reactor to overload before boarding Sleight of Hand. The Councillors moved to two seats in the command centre while Bane strapped himself into his pilot's chair. "Over-ride system lockdown," The mercenary replied, his fingers dancing across the console. "Voiceprint ID Gamma Two Sigma Four."

With system control restored, Bane activated his vessel's cloak and moved through the atmosphere of Tantro. A quick inputting of hyperspace routes later and the Duros was pulling the hyperspace lever and sending his dropship into lightspeed.

_A million credits richer_, Cad Bane thought as the stars warped into starlines, a small grin in place.

* * *

**There you have it, my version of how the Separatist Council is able to reform prior to the Mustafar incident, though there is still a fair amount of time before that happens.**....

**I did some major revamping with this chapter, a lot of things needed to be enhanced to keep it flowing easily. In the end, I'm not sure I did my original vision justice, but I couldn't think of anything else to add or change.**

**That only leaves you, the readers, to tell me how it was. Hopefully.**

**On a side note, _Let's Start a Riot_ by Three Days Grace is a great song to listen to when you're writing about a prison break.**

**Naturally, after listening to the song more times than I can remember someone had to say 'Let's start a riot' and who better than Bane.**


	14. Recovery

Thirty minutes after Anakin and his group had captured a Banking Clan frigate and escaped Tyfex, they reached the fall-back destination where the General hoped Admiral Yularen was still waiting. The familiar blue funnel associated with interstellar travel vanished from around the frigate, sending it back to sub-light speeds. Three damaged Venators and two Acclamators could be seen out of the bridge viewports, letting Anakin breathe a sigh of relief that the fleet was still holding position.

"Snips, contact Admiral Yularen." The Jedi ordered his apprentice, the Togruta still standing by the ship's COM console. "Let him know this is a friendly ship."

"Yes Master," Ashoka responded, relaying the message to the fleet officer. After a brief exchange of text, with attached confirmation codes, the Republic fleet made no move to fire. "The Admiral has ordered the fleet to stand down Master."

"Good," Anakin replied, making his way out of the bridge, "Let Captain Drex know that Vibro is free to head to the Resolute, then set the self-destruct." While his padawan did as instructed, Anakin motioned to the clones, "Meanwhile, we'd better do the same."

The assault team fell in step behind their mission leader as they moved out of the bridge and toward the starboard hangar, Ashoka catching up not long after. The clones kept their weapons ready, knowing there were still a few droids on board. The group reached the assault shuttle without incident, however, and took their familiar spots in the vessel. Where the hangar's deflector once stood had been replaced with a blast door that barred both access and exit. A burst of laser fire from the shuttle's forward cannons eliminated the obstacle and allowed the Nu-class assault ship to break away from the Separatist frigate and angle toward the Republic fleet. The Separatist frigate disappeared from the scanner boards halfway to their destination, bringing a smile from Anakin at the vessel's destruction.

Anakin expertly piloted the craft into dorsal hangar 2B, exhaling in slight relief upon seeing that Vibro Squadron was already there. The weary battle group moved out of the shuttle. Now that the clones were safely extracted from a potential battlezone, their adrenaline was starting to recede, fatigue taking its place. Despite their exhaustion, however, they waited for their mission leader to dismiss them. The Jedi offered it upon his and Ashoka's approach. "Excellent work, all of you. Now get some rest. We'll need it, judging by the looks of things in here," Skywalker continued after taking a cursory observation and noticing the varying level of damaged systems and repair teams rapidly moving about the hangar. "Mission debriefing will be twenty-four hours from now."

Captain Rex called the squad to attention, snapped off a crisp salute to the General and spun on his heel to the right, marching for three paces before resuming a casual walk, his squad mirroring his movements. Anakin watched them leave the hangar, making his way to Vibro Squadron once the assault team left the hangar. Captain Drex spotted the Jedi Knight and his padawan on their approach, offering a salute once they moved closer. "Captain," Anakin said by way of greeting, "Is everyone accounted for?"

"Yes General, we all made it back fine."

"Impressive piloting out there Captain, you and your squadron." Anakin said with a grin before moving away from the Squadron Commander.

"Thank you sir," Drex called back after getting over his surprise. Many sentients, both in the Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, were familiar with Anakin Skywalker's legendary piloting prowess, to get a compliment from him on piloting skills was an achievements as rare as it was confidence boosting.

Anakin moved toward the bridge of the Resolute, Ashoka falling in step beside him. The Republic General could feel some fatigue in the back of his mind, a glance to his side revealed the source of the feeling. His Togruta padawan walked with heavier steps, her eyes almost half-closed. A small smile tugged at the corners of the Jedi's mouth, he knew his apprentice would follow him to both observe the first things he did after a mission and to conceal how tired she was really feeling. He had no doubt that the last thing on her mind would be to go to her quarters, she was too prideful to admit that she was exhausted, something Anakin himself had experienced during his days as a padawan. The Jedi stopped in the hallway, Ashoka taking a few more steps before she realized that her Master was no longer following. "Master?"

"I can sense your fatigue Ashoka," Anakin said with a slight smile. "I know you don't want to admit it," He hastened to add when Ashoka looked ready to retort. The Jedi stepped forward and placed a hand on his apprentice's shoulder and looked her in the eyes, "I'm telling you this as your friend Snips, you need your rest."

The General thought he saw her orange skin look darker for a moment, but it passed shortly after. "Alright Skyguy, I'll turn in." Ashoka shot a mock-scowl in his direction, "Just don't do anything without me this time."

Anakin raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Ashoka, we're on the _Resolute_. What could possibly happen?"

"Who knows?" Ashoka spoke with a smile, "You're on board the ship now Master, anything can happen."

Anakin narrowed his eyes in response, though his apprentice could still see the amusement reflecting in them. "Hilarious,"

Ashoka laughed at his sarcastic muttering as she left for her quarters, a departing wave issued to her Master.

The Jedi continued his walk to the command centre, taking note of the increasing amount of repair crews working to patch the cruiser into serviceable conditions. The circuitry and conduits underneath the deck plates were replaced, with new plates being welded overtop of those that had been left damaged in the battle that had occurred hours before.

The bridge was a hive of activity, officers directed repair teams to the more critical areas of the ships while crewmen performed the tedious task of conducting diagnostics on the ship systems, attempting to contain the damage that was threatening to spread. Admiral Yularen looked at the reports forwarded to him by repair team supervisors, the general condition of his cruiser had gone from acceptable to disastrous. The flagship officer knew the only way to get his ship operational at all would be to spend at least three days in drydock. With the engines still offline, however, there was no way the _Resolute_ would be moving to lightspeed.

"Admiral, report," The commanding tone made Yularen turn to see General Skywalker moving toward him, his concerned expression regarding activity on a command centre usually only seen during a battle.

"Extensive damage to the fleet, sir, all of the starboard batteries need a complete refit and the engines are currently disabled, but we have repair crews working constantly to bring them back online. The _Arrestor_ and _Pinnacle_ have similar difficulties with their engines, along with a destroyed fire control centre on the _Arrestor_."

"How did all the engines get damaged?" Anakin asked incredulously, it was clear that it hadn't happened during the battle above Tyfex.

"We were infiltrated by the Separatists sir, their ships must have boarded ours during the battle. System malfunctions were detected at 0100 hours. Security Team Six was ordered to investigate and reported contact with commando droids, other teams reported contact soon after." Yularen sighed as he looked around the bridge, "The attacks were designed to draw away our attention, the engines were the real target."

Anakin nodded solemnly, "Repair status?"

The Admiral paused to study a datapad given to him only a few minutes ago, "Last report from the other ships puts the timetable one hour from now sir. Once the repairs are complete, we'll be heading for Bestine." The former intelligence officer looked at the General expectantly, hoping he would concur with the logical course of action. Yularen almost exhaled in relief at Skywalker's agreeable nod. The Republic General strode out shortly after, leaving the fleet officer to oversee the repair tasks of the naval task force.

Anakin moved away from the _Resolute_'s bridge, the Admiral's mention of a skirmish with security teams swarmed his mind and, before he knew it, he was already heading toward the medical bay. The brightly lit section of the recovery room was at maximum capacity, the wall integrated bunks occupied by clones either unconscious or squirming at the pain slowly receding from their bodies. Anakin could feel their silent anguish, the pain flooding his senses enough to make him grimace. Despite the strong feelings in the room, a sizable amount of pain emitting from a clone in the far end drew the Jedi closer. The Republic General could see why the trooper was in so much pain, his face had a diagonal incision that started at the right eye and moved down to the left jaw-line. The wounded clone was slowly shifting in silent agony, the bacta strips on his face having been removed to reveal the still open wound beneath.

Bacta foamer residue could be seen on the wound, a fact which let the Jedi know why the clone was in such distress. Unlike the Bacta tank, the Bacta foamer was a portable version that dramatically boosted the body's natural healing along with the substance's own ability to regenerate damaged tissue. Unfortunately, the substance's effects were more forceful than its larger tank counterpart, resulting in an exceedingly painful process. Seeing how deep the incision seemed to be, Anakin was surprised the clone was still conscious, let alone only silently moaning.

The trooper should have been given a sedative awhile ago, but a quick glance around the medical centre showed that the medical staff had their hands full tending to the clones still in need of treatment. Anakin placed his hand on the clone's forehead, using the Force to temporarily numb the nerves around the wound, alleviating the pain. The uneasy stirring ceased, leaving the soldier to continue his sleep undisturbed. Anakin took his hand away and whispered, "Rest easy trooper."

The General continued his rounds, using the Force to dull the pain from recovering clones. He entered the treatment section, his mere presence seemed to make the clones more tolerant of the aches in their system. A few of those in the room were clones who Anakin had worked with previously and he made a point of greeting them first.

Though the majority of the ship's garrison was composed of the elite 501st Legion, there were those who functioned as both crewman and armed response teams, their duty to maintain ship functionality and security. While Anakin knew the names of the majority of those serving under his command, the identification for the security team soldiers escaped him, but he asked them their names, their condition, and their report on what happened.

Slowly, Anakin learned of the droid commando's tactics. It was not until he met a trooper named Spike that the last piece fell into place. Commandos had lured the clone's team to the ship's secondary generator room; Spike expressed his belief in their desire to wipe out the majority of the ship's response forces in that room alone. "A full platoon was waiting for us, sir. I don't know what happened to the crewmen who were stationed there, we never found any bodies." Spike trailed off, his eyes developing a far away look as he relived the memory.

"Go on," Anakin gently pressed.

Spike snapped himself out of his musings at the Jedi's words, relaying the rest of the event to him. He told the General how they had started retreating to the second floor, only to be flanked by a lone droid. The clone spoke of how he had moved to the main terminal to restore functionality to the secondary generator, while Charger held off the droids. He continued, saying he had tended to his comrade's wounds, reported to the bridge, and then waited for an emergency team to arrive.

"After the medics carried them away, I was sent to the engine room to reinforce a group that had just sent a contact report. We engaged a squad of droids, but they were only a distraction while another droid sabotaged the transpacitor."

Anakin grimaced at that information, now understanding why Admiral Yularen expected the repairs to take so long; the transpacitor was what kept the engines running at stable levels. Waste by-products from both the ion engines and hyperdrive were siphoned away from their respective systems, preventing internal damage. Any ship going into hyperspace with a damaged transpacitor would be forcibly thrown out of the faster than lightspeed plane when the thermal buildup became too much. Emerging from lightspeed without control to an unknown set of galactic coordinates could, at best, result in the ship crashing into a planetoid or spatial anomaly while, at worst, the sheer force of slipping back into sub-light speeds would be too much for the hull to handle.

The Jedi Knight expressed his thanks for the information, wishing Spike a fast recovery before heading out of the medbay and to his quarters. The fatigue he'd been suppressing since capturing the Separatist frigate started to catch up with him along the way. By the time he reached his quarters, Anakin barley had the energy to strip off his purchased armour. He managed to put on some light sleep wear before his exhausted form collapsed onto his bed. The lull of sleep was too strong for even a Jedi to resist for long.

()()()

Anakin sprinted across a plain, his heart beating faster, not from exertion, but from fear. He briefly wondered why he felt such an emotion, but those thoughts were quickly dispelled once he saw his padawan fighting a figure wielding a crimson lightsaber. Green and red blades met in a clashing of energy, Ashoka and the unknown party slashed and hacked at the other, with neither side gaining any leeway. The still sprinting Jedi felt a brief sense of hope that his padawan would succeed, but it faded once he saw the aggressor press its attack. Ashoka's attacks turned to pure defence in her efforts to redirect the blade of her opponent. A malicious laugh sounded from the figure, a voice that Anakin believed vaguely familiar.

Seeing his apprentice in such distress, Anakin tried to move faster. Ashoka continued to retreat away from the advancing figure, but he pursued her relentlessly. An overhead strike was aimed at the Togruta's head, but it was blocked at the last second. The strength of the unknown attacker was unexpectedly strong; he slowly pushed her lightsaber toward her. Ashoka was concentrating so much on keeping her own blade away from her face that she failed to prevent a hand from snapping out and gripping her throat. The young apprentice moved her blade to sever her attacker's appendage, but such an action was expected. The unidentified individual casually brought the crimson lightsaber in a sweeping motion that cut through Ashoka's lightsaber hilt, leaving the green blade to extinguish. Before Ashoka could do anything more than cringe, a ruby coloured blade pierced through her stomach, eliciting a muffled cry of pain from the Togruta, her corpse dropping to the ground once the hand released her throat.

"NO!" Anakin could feel his apprentice's death through the Force and he screamed in rage, his blue blade igniting with a snap-hiss now that he was finally close enough. He jumped at the attacker, his Force empowered leap taking him within striking distance in a matter of seconds. The Jedi didn't hesitate in swinging his lightsaber at his target. A flicker of surprise showed on his face when the strange bipedal shadow seemed to dematerialize before his very eyes. Anakin turned back to his padawan, only to find that she was also gone. Blackness crept along the sides of the Republic General's vision, the shadow's maniacal laughter still echoing in his head.

()()()

Anakin shot up out of his bed, his breathing heavy and his mind troubled. His first thoughts were if his dream was real, despite the fact that he recognized his surroundings. His mind was still frantic with the imagery he'd just barred witness to and he wasn't about to take any chances. Stretching out with the Force, the Jedi directed all of his effort into searching for his padawan's unique signature. He exhaled in partial relief when he located the Togruta in her quarters, her signature still reading strongly.

Anakin knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so he moved out of his bed to get dressed, donning his usual brown and gray tunic. The Jedi turned to leave, but stopped when he caught sight of his brown cloak by the room's storage compartment. Acting on an impulse he couldn't explain, the General grabbed the piece of cloth and donned it on his person, moving out of his quarters to a secluded area.

With it still early morning, according to standard galactic time, there weren't many people, officers or crewmen, wandering the halls. The former slave moved to the cargo hold of the cruiser, utilizing a lift and navigating his way through several corridors before reaching his destination. The storage compartment was an enormous room, rows of durasteel shelves were lined with large containers that stored everything from spare parts to ship munitions. At the far end, however, there was an empty space wide enough for the very thing the Jedi had come to room for, lightsaber practise.

The nightmare he'd just experienced had left him feeling more than a little on edge. Most Jedi turned to meditative trances to refocus their mind and gain a semblance of control. Anakin, however, found such techniques to be far too slow for his liking, so he turned to the one thing he knew was guaranteed to work, combat. The lack of any simulation rooms in a Venator Star Destroyer though made lightsaber practise the next best thing.

Igniting his lightsaber, Anakin ran through a quick flurry of sequences in the more aggressive form of Djem So. A style that drew from the user's physical strength, Djem So focused on utilizing more aggressive tactics than normally expected from a Jedi. In combat Anakin was able to focus solely on the task at hand, bringing any other thoughts to the back of his mind. It was this effect that he tried to reproduce through lightsaber drills.

The Jedi started with the first sequence of the form he'd perfected shortly after his engagement with Count Dooku on Geonosis, bringing his lightsaber down in aggressive downward strokes. He moved into the next set of known sequences to the form, occasionally adding his own personalized styles- styles that utilized elements from Ataru and Juyo- into the mix. Eventually, Anakin was deeply immersed into his own personally created sequences, swiftly transitioning between flurries and overhand swings as he imagined utilizing the form against waves of battle droids.

The Chosen One's created technique utilized elements of precision, broad aggression, and domination, adding a sense of unpredictability to the Jedi's movements that had taken more than a few combatants by surprise. Anakin often found himself skirting a fine edge when in combat, his technique often favouring the use of domination rather than precision.

An hour passed before the Jedi stopped his practising, his deactivated lightsaber back on his belt as he took a moment to let out several deep breaths. With his mind clearer than it was when he first awoke, Anakin doubled back to the dormitories, passing through the first stirrings of activity aboard the _Resolute_ now as troopers and technicians continued the repairs of the flagship. Sensing Ashoka's presence as he stood outside his padawan's room, the Jedi Knight used the Force to open the door to her quarters and stepped inside.

Started awake by the sudden flood of illumination the young Togruta's large blue eyes snapped open, her hazy vision finally registering whose form stood in her doorway after a few blinks. "Master?"

"Get up and meet me in the cargo hold, we're going to be practising your lightsaber techniques."

Taken aback by the complete seriousness in her Master's tone, it took her a moment to register the words 'practising' and 'lightsaber.' "Really?" She asked, almost springing out of her bed in excitement.

Seemingly numb to his padawan's display, Anakin only offered a nod in confirmation. "Move quickly."

His part said, the Force Sensitive retreated back to his previous location, leaving an exuberant apprentice to quickly get her room rearranged and her equipment on her person.

Several minutes passed before Ashoka came barrelling into the cargo hold, blue irises scanning for any sign of life as the Togruta slowly picked her way through the storage racks. "Master, where are you?"

A slight tremor in the Force gave Ashoka the impression of danger to her right, a warning she instantly responded to by activating her lightsbaer and bringing the weapon to a defensive stance. Rather than be met with the gray coloured alloy of a vibroblade as she expected, however, Ashoka found herself facing the blue lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker. "Master, what are you doing?" The Togruta frantically called as her mentor attacked with a quick sequence of flurries swift enough to press her defensive abilities to the limit. "I thought you were going to teach me!"

"I am," Anakin responded, "First lesson: never let your guard down."

Capitalizing on Ashoka's show of disbelief, the Jedi struck out with his blade in a wide swing, stopping the action when the azure blade was a mere inch away from her face. "Lesson two: never hesitate."

Deactivating his lightsaber, Anakin moved to the other side of the storage hold that he'd previously occupied during his own practise sessions, his padawan following silently behind.

"The time has come for your training to expand to the next stage." Anakin said as he moved a few metres away from his apprentice. "Your lightsaber drills will be improved and refined."

Ashoka's earlier startled demeanour started to fade away at her mentor's words, the excitement that had been all but extinguished during the brief ambush flared to life once more. "When do we start?"

The withdrawal of two training lightsabers from Anakin's cloak answered Ashoka's question. Engineered to be similar in design to standard lightsabers, the only thing distinguishing the two variants was that training lightsabers were constructed with a permanent low power setting. This made them ideal for instructional purposes as the blades could only inflict burns and bruises upon the skin, nothing beyond.

The Jedi tossed one of the weapons to his apprentice, who snatched it from the air and held it, activated, in a ready stance. Anakin activated his own training lightsaber after a few seconds and engaged his padawan, swiftly closing the distance between them as he started raining blow after blow down on Ashoka. He was holding back of course, for as talented as Ashoka was for her age, she was nowhere near Anakin's level of prowess. The Jedi Knight stood rooted to the spot, his blade moving in flurries and overhead strikes that kept Ashoka moving with her usual style of grace, the whole purpose meant to avoid such strikes completely, rather than deflect them.

"Your brand of agility draws from elements of Ataru, a style than relies on evasion until an opening for an attack presents itself. Tell me," Anakin said as he disengaged from the attack, temporarily stopping the duel, "What do you do when no such opening presents itself?"

"I….," Ashoka began, her mind struggling to find an answer to such a question. In the end, however, she couldn't come up with one. "I don't know Master."

"The simple answer Ashoka, is that you don't. You remain forever on the defensive, slowly draining your energy until you are at your opponent's mercy." The Jedi took a moment to breathe when he realized he was letting his anger over his dream control his tone. "It's a pattern in your attacks I've seen you do countless times. When you're confronted with an opponent as aggressive and skilful as yourself, or more so, you fall back to defensive measures. And that," Anakin said slowly as he looked his padawan in the eyes, "Is unacceptable."

With that, the former slave rushed his apprentice, training blade bearing down on its target. The Togruta tried to take her Master's advice to heart, attempting to counter his aggressive swings and thrusts with her own sequences. Her efforts proved to be futile, however, and it wasn't long before she found herself falling back to the defensive.

"You're doing it again," Anakin said as he continued the attack. "Concentrate and use the Force Ashoka. You know how to use this weapon, so make use of it and attack me!"

The Jedi Knight's sharp reprimand sent Ashoka's blood boiling, her anger swelling as she couldn't help but feel frustration at her lack of progress. Coaxing that feeling towards her, she used it to enhance her perceptions and counter her Master's movements with aggressive parries meant to throw opponents off-balance. She harboured no delusions that such a technique would work on Anakin, but it was enough to convince him that she was at least trying to do as instructed.

"Good!" Anakin shouted to be heard above the sound of the twin energy blades clashing against one another. He continued the exercise for another few minutes before stepping back once more. "Now that you have the right mindset, I can teach you how to truly become an aggressive combatant. It's time you learned the basics of Djem So."

()()()

"Again!"

The shout made a look of frustration cross over Ashoka's face as she ran through the first sequence of Djem So. Two hours had passed since her Master had broken down the basics of the first Djem So sequence. In that time, the apprentice had been struggling to perform it flawlessly. Each time she thought she had it right, however, the General would only shake his head and tell her to try again. The Togruta tried breaking the entire sequence down into every single individual movement, practising each one at a time until she was confident the correct motion had been memorized. Even then, however, her Jedi mentor would point out the smallest of weaknesses in the stance. She was starting to wonder if she would ever get it right.

"Incorrect," The sharp reprimand rang out once more, forcing Ashoka to grind her teeth to prevent herself from shouting back at her Master. The young padawan started the sequence once more, attempting to flawlessly perform the movements.

"Your downward swigs are coming down too sharp, Ashoka." Anakin spoke again once his padawan had repeated the sequence.

"Master, I don't see the purpose in correcting such minor errors! It's not like it's that much of a problem!"

Ashoka cut herself off when she finally registered the fact that she'd been shouting. The silence that followed was unbearable, to the point where Ashoka found herself squirming with apprehension. She didn't dare speak again though.

"Attack me."

Anakin's soft, but firm, spoken command threw Ashoka off guard. "What?"

"Attack me," The Jedi repeated simply. "Using the sequence you've been practising."

"Okay," The Togruta replied dubiously, waiting only a moment longer before she leapt at her Master, training blade at the ready.

She started with the quick overhead strikes, alternating between vertical and angled forms of attack. Horizontal swings, aimed at the upper body, came next. After several seconds of such an attack, Ashoka smoothly transitioned to the final stroke, the one considered to be the killing blow in the sequence, the downward diagonal strike. Before the Togruta could get very far into the movement, however, her blade was slapped aside, an action followed by a brief burning sensation on her abdomen.

Anakin lowered his training lightsaber after dealing what would have been a lethal strike, his padawan looking at him with a flash of anger in her eyes. "What was that for!"

"Instruction," The Jedi repeated with a hard tone that instantly cooled the Togruta's anger, replacing it with a look of trepidation. "You said you didn't see the point in correcting minor flaws in your stance, so I demonstrated why correction is necessary. Because your angle wasn't perfect when it first came down, your blade missed my shoulder by a few centimetres, giving me the opportunity to turn the tables. Now do you understand?"

"Yes Master," Ashoka replied in a defeated manner.

"Good," Anakin replied, pointing to the location where Ashoka had been practising before; a silent order for her to move back to her original position. Once she had taken up a ready stance with her training blade again, Anakin deactivated his own training lightsbaer, folding his arms as his eyes settled on his apprentice. "Again."

With both mentor and learner focused solely on the lesson, Ashoka going through movements imparted onto her by Anakin while he scrutinized her from afar, scanning for the slightest error, the first indication the two had of the hours that had passed was when Captain Rex entered the cargo hold, telling Skywalker that everyone was ready for the mission debriefing.

Anakin had originally told Ashoka to take a break, but she had requested to come along so the two Force Sensitives followed the clone officer to the briefing room of the _Resolute_. All of the clones present rose to their feet at Anakin's entrance, only sitting back down once the General told them to.

"I'm not going to go through the usual protocol for this debriefing," Anakin said simply as he turned to face Bypass. "Were you able to decode the Separatist transmission?"

"Yes, and no, sir," The clone slicer replied as he activated the holoprojector in the centre of the room and linked up his datapad.

A galactic star map appeared, thousands of stars and planets visible. Slowly the view centred toward the inner rim, with the map shifting toward the starting location of the Rimma Trade Route. Two worlds were highlighted in red as Bypass spoke, "It took some work to narrow the search parameters this time General. The transmission was sent with an anti-tracer, one that gave me hundreds of possible origin points. I managed to eliminate all but two of these ghost signatures," The clone said as he gestured toward the two planets on the star map, Giju and Bassadro.

"So how do we know which one is the planet we're after?" Ashoka asked with a glance at Bypass.

"We don't Commander," The slicer responded simply, "One of these worlds has a ghost signature embedded in it, but it's impossible to decipher which one."

"Wait a minute," Rex said as he studied the star map. "Giju, that world has a Republic garrison, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I remember reading about that," Ashoka piped up excitedly, "They were one of the few worlds in that sector to stay with us during the galactic split."

An armoured glove pointed toward the other planet highlighted as Rex gazed at the map, "Now Bassadro, one the other hand, was one of the first worlds to secede from the Republic."

"So that's where we should go next!" Ashoka finished with a slightly triumphant tone at solving such a puzzle.

While she got a confirming nod from Rex and the others, Anakin shook his head. "No, our next destination is Giju."

Rex and Bypass shared a glance before the company commander spoke, "With all due respect sir, it makes more sense for us to continue our investigation on a Separatist controlled world."

"Why is that? We already know there's a Republic turncoat behind this and the only way to uncover the person's identity is to investigate our own worlds."

"True sir," Rex began cautiously, sensing the strong resolve already present in his superior. "But we have no idea where the transmission would deviate from Republic channels to Sep ones. I think we'd find more answers if we continue scouring enemy planets."

Anakin only shook his head in response, "I appreciate your insight Captain, but Giju is our next destination once the fleet has been refitted. Speaking of which, have we made the jump to Bestine yet?"

"Yes sir, Admiral Yularen took the fleet into hyperspace approximately five hours ago. He estimated our time of arrival to be two days from now." When Anakin's expression turned to surprise, Rex elaborated. "The Admiral is pushing the hyperdrive as much as he can General; he's not sure how long the ships will be able to maintain lightspeed travel."

"I see," The Jedi said slowly. He had expected to have more time to focus on Ashoka's training, now it seemed he had been denied a few days worth of additional instruction. "I want all of you to take the next two days off," Anakin said as his gaze shifted to the clones at large. "Something tells me you're going to need it."

"Yes sir," Rex responded, a hint of surprise colouring his tone, "Thank you sir."

Anakin nodded, the briefest of smiles on his face before he left the room and headed for the COM centre, Ashoka following.

Ten minutes passed before Anakin's issued Priority One COM tag was answered by the High Council. The Jedi must've been discussing operations with the Supreme Chancellor, for Palpatine was present alongside Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi and the Grand Master himself, Yoda.

"Ah, General Skywalker," The Chancellor greeted warmly.

"Your Excellency," Anakin replied with a bow, switching his attention to the High Council members and repeating the gesture. "Masters."

"What do you have to report, Skywalker?" Windu inquired.

"Our investigation at Kiflor is complete Master. Evidence we obtained on the planet has lead us to Giju, a world in the Inner Rim."

"And a world still in the Republic," Palpatine said after a moment of thought, "If I'm not mistaken."

"That is correct Chancellor," Anakin said with a nod.

"And your investigation has led to no other worlds?" Mace asked in a confirmation seeking tone.

"No Master," Anakin lied, not bothering to inform the Council of the possibility of a Separatist world being a likely candidate. He knew more information could be found on Giju, he wasn't about to let anyone question his decision.

The only one who knew about the lie was Ashoka but, other than a soft gasp and sharp glance to her Master, she made no indication that Anakin was being deceitful.

"How soon will it take you to get to Giju Anakin?"

"I'm afraid the investigation will have to be delayed temporarily Chancellor, as our fleet is currently in need of repair. We were ambushed by General Grievous' forces above Tyfex and sustained massive damage. Three of our Acclamator II's were lost with all hands and our remaining ships are lightyears away from battle ready conditions at present."

"Right now we're heading to Bestine for supply and refit, our ETA is two days. After that, our fleet will continue with the investigation at best speed. I would like to request some additional support, however; the loss of our Acclamators has left us severely undermanned as a task force."

"An important observation Jedi Skywalker," Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke, "But we have no forces in reserve that we could possibly spare."

"Perhaps we could reassign another naval group instead," The Supreme Chancellor suggested.

Yoda and Mace Windu shared a glance before the Grand Master spoke, "Suggest we sacrifice a world's defence, do you?"

As sigh escaped the political leader's lips, "As much as the prospect pains me Master Jedi, I don't see another way. The possibility of a traitor within our government terrifies me far more than whatever the Separatists can do to an undefended Republic world. That being said, however," The Chancellor quickly continued, "We should choose a world both close enough to the Core so as to guarantee security, but near enough to Bestine to quickly give General Skywalker his reinforcements. I think Aargau would be the best choice," Palpatine finished after a long moment of consideration.

Anakin nodded in understanding, "Hyperspace travel to Bestine would take about four days from there. Hopefully our ships will be underway by then."

Though the young Jedi was quick to support the Chancellor, the High Council members were not so accommodating. "This is a dangerous move," Windu said gravely, "Aargau will be vulnerable during this time."

"No more vulnerable than any other Republic world," Palpatine countered lightly. "Besides, it is well within the established security zone for the Core Worlds."

"Even so," Windu continued with narrowed eyes, "The planet will be completely exposed to any form of orbital attack. Close proximity of reinforcements, even the presence of ground units, won't matter if the world is subjected to orbital bombardment."

"I agree with Master Windu," Ki-Adi-Mundi said in support. "It may appear as though the Core Worlds are out of the war, but the reality is much different from such a perception. Neimodia, for example, is less than twenty parsecs from the border of the Core World region."

"What would you suggest my friends?" The Chancellor asked, his focus solely resting on the High Council. "Should we simply tell General Skywalker to continue with his investigation, knowing full well that his task force would be unlikely to survive another engagement with the Separatists?"

The Jedi Masters went silent at that, none of them wanting to send a clearly outnumbered naval task force on a mission that would undoubtedly take them into combat. But, at the same time, they couldn't afford to postpone a high priority investigation.

"I don't think there will be a problem Masters," Ashoka said as she stepped to her Master's side. "Technically, Aargau is a neutral world. If the Separatists attack it, they'd run the risk of having thousands of other neutral planets join the Republic."

Silence met the apprentice's statement and she was beginning to think she had spoken out of turn once again. The appraising nod she received from her Master convinced her otherwise, however, and she smiled at him before looking back to the holoprojector in front of her.

"A valid point young one," The Chancellor said after studying here for a few moments with a gaze that unnerved Ashoka for reasons she couldn't explain.

"Indeed," Plo Koon said in agreement with the political leader's assessment. "With Aargau in the Core, I had forgotten that the planet has not formally chosen any side."

"Made, the decision is. Reassign the fleet above Aargau, we will. This investigation is important; the identity of this Republic turncoat must be exposed. Act quickly, you must Skywalker."

"I will Master Yoda," Anakin said with a bow to the Jedi Order's Grand Master. He paused for a moment before adding, "Where is Obi-Wan?"

"Master Kenobi is investigating a recent disruption on Tantro," Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

"The moon with our prisoner of war facility?"

"The very same," Mundi confirmed with a nod. "It seems that the base was infiltrated by an unknown party. The reactor was sabotaged and a riot broke out. More than a few Separatists were able to escape before order was restored, including Poggle and Emir Tambor."

Anakin felt his anger flare at that piece of information, after everything the Republic had gone through to destroy the enemy's leadership and bring the war to a quicker end; someone had ruined a more than a year's worth of progress. "Are there any leads?"

"None at present," Plo Koon spoke with a shake of his head. "Master Kenobi has only recently arrived, however.

Anakin opened his mouth, about to pose another question when Mace Windu cut in. "As distressing as Tambor and Poggle's escape is, you must remain focused on your own mission Jedi Skywalker. Your investigation could prove to be more important than the escape of two Separatist leaders."

"Yes Master," The Republic General reluctantly said with a bow.

The Jedi Masters gathered reciprocated the gesture, their holographic forms, and the Supreme Chancellor's, vanishing soon after.

"Take a break Ashoka," Anakin said as he turned to face his apprentice, "Go get something to eat and get some rest. We'll continue your training in a few hours."

The padawan acknowledged the command, heading out of the COM centre to the vessel's mess. "And Snips?" The use of her nickname stopped the Togruta short as she turned back to regard her Master. "Excellent work."

The apprentice's face broke into a wide smile at the praising words before she left for some well needed nourishment and rest.


End file.
